Nevermore's Wrath
by GunnyBadger
Summary: This is the sequel to Egle Rising and takes place five years after the events of the first story. This story will get darker and more mature as I expand on my vision of a more adult AU for RWBY. The survivors of "The Purge" are leading an all out underground movement against Atlas forces in Vale. Please read Egle Rising first.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone! So this is the prologue for the sequel of Egle Rising! I hope you all are as excited as I am now that I've actually started to write it. Let me know what you guys think of the new character I introduced.**

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 **Nevermore's Wrath**

Prologue

Silver sat silently as his close friend and teammate Whitney carefully drove through the cluttered streets of a small city in Mistral. It had been two years since Atlas had invaded the Kingdom of Mistral and many urban areas had completely evacuated ahead of the Atlesian Knights and Paladins that were almost always sent as a shock force ahead of the rest of the Atlesian armed forces. Silver, Whitney, and the rest of Team SHDW were special operatives usually sent into Atlesian occupied territory to retrieve any information on Atlesian troop movements and assassinate high ranking officers. Today they were sent into the abandoned city to retrieve a defector claiming to have vital information on a large Atlesian offensive.

Silver was a handsome panther faunus that stood at six feet and one inch. He and the rest of his team were all aged at twenty-four years old. He had wavy, semi-long, pure black hair and panther ears with glowing silver eyes that had a cat like slit to their pupils. He was lean for his height but was powerful none the less. He retracted a single claw from his right hand and tapped it impatiently against this knee as Whitney carefully turned down another abandoned street. Silver calmly switched his throat mic on and spoke into it.

"Hey, Hazel? You seeing any sign of this asshole?" Silver said as he looked around for any signs of life.

Two miles west of Silver's position, Hazel sat in the passenger seat as Duff drove down a street slowly. She looked out the window patiently as she looked for their contact. She nearly jumped out of her seat when Silver's voice broke the silence and cracked into her earpiece. Duff chuckled softly at his partner, to which Hazel playfully punched him in the arm.

"Nope. I'm starting to think this is just a wild goose chase." Hazel replied in an annoyed tone.

Silver sighed in frustration as he was starting to fill the same way. Their contact said for them to meet him in the city but didn't tell them the exact location of where they could find him. He thought for a few moments before letting out another sigh and responding to Hazel again.

"Alright, Hazel and Duff look around for a few more minutes before heading to our meet up point. If this guy means business then he has a time limit to prove it." Silver said with an annoyed tone.

As Hazel and Duff turned down another street, Duff came to a near halt at the sight of a hooded figure standing in the middle of the abandoned street. Duff and Hazel looked at each other briefly before Hazel got back on her radio to contact Silver about the figure.

"Uh…Silver?" Hazel said with a slight hint of worry in her voice.

"Go ahead, Hazel. What is it?" Silver came back after a few seconds of silence.

"I think we've found our guy. There's this person standing in the middle of the road with a cloak on. It's kind of freaky looking." Hazel replied as she and Duff looked on at the motionless figure that stood no more than fifty yards ahead of them.

"He's just standing in the middle of the road? What's the description?" Silver said as he motioned Whitney to start driving to the rest of their team's location.

"Fuck if I know, the person has a hood on. I can't see their face. I can tell it's a man though from his build. Tall, stocky, has a sword scabbard poking out from the bottom of the cloak. Oh, and it looks like he's been hurt pretty badly in the past." Hazel responded as she squinted to focus on the figure who still remained motionless. "I'm going to get out. Duff, you stay here in case something goes wrong." She continued as she opened her door.

"What do you mean it looks like he's been hurt? Hazel stay in the vehicle." Silver said with a worried voice before directing Whitney to drive faster.

"Yeah, it looks like he has a prostatic arm of some sort. His right arm is made of some sort of metal." Hazel said as she stepped out of the car, ignoring Silver's warning.

Silver's ears twitched as he heard the last part of Hazel's description of the figure in the street. Something about what she was describing wasn't right. He couldn't shake the feeling that something seriously bad was about to happen. He quickly pulled out his scroll and started searching through his mobile dossier of high ranking Atlesian operatives. He quickly looked for any information on agents with metal arms before finding the one he was looking for. Silver's eyes widened and his blood froze instantly as he saw the name of the Atlesian agent that fit the description Hazel had gave him.

"Hazel…buddy?" Silver said as calmly as he could.

"Yeah? What is it?" Hazel came back after a few moments.

"I need you to get back in the car with Duff. And I need you and Duff to get as far away from that man as you can, as fast as you can. Do not engage with him at all. Do you understand me? We've been set up. Do not get near him." Silver ordered his teammate quickly.

Back at Hazel's location, Duff calmly put the car's gear into reverse and reached out for Hazel's hand. He didn't take his eyes off of the hooded figure for a second as Hazel slowly started to move back towards the car's still open door. The figure swayed slowly before raising its metal arm up to the hood around its head and pulled it back to reveal a young man with long white hair, golden eyes, and a handsome face with three lite scars going across his left cheek. Hazel's heart stopped as she instantly recognized the man standing before her.

"Silver…it's him. It's The Nevermore." Hazel said with a rush of fear filling her voice.

"Hazel, Duff! Get out of there now! Get as far away from him as you can right now!" Silver yelled as Whitney sped around a corner, narrowly dodging an abandoned car.

The figure smiled before quickly placing his metal hand in his cloak and pulling out a bottle of dust. He crushed the bottle in his right hand and it instantly morphed into a machine gun. Hazel quickly dove into the car as Duff sped in reverse away from the figure. The figure stepped forward and raised his arm before firing off a fierce volley of bullets from the machine gun that his hand morphed into. The rounds smashed into the road around the car, tearing into the front left tire of the car.

Duff struggled to maintain control of the car but it ended up spinning out of control and into a light pole. Hazel screamed out in pain as her side of the car smashed into the pole, the force of the impact breaking two of her ribs. Duff shook his head as he tried to come back to his senses after the crash. He quickly looked over Hazel to make sure she wasn't pinned in the car.

"You okay?" Duff asked her as he reached for his weapon. "Try to climb out of the window. I'm going to give you covering…" He continued before another volley of bullets slammed into the car.

This time the bullets managed to hit their target as they ripped into Duff's body. His head exploded from several rounds hitting it, sending blood splashing onto Hazel as her teammate's body shook violently from being shot. Duff's lifeless body slummed over Hazel as she struggled to duck in her seat as to not get shot. She screamed in horror at the sight of her friend's torn up corpse that now laid on top of her.

"Hazel? Duff? Talk to me damnit! Are you two okay?" Silver yelled over his mic as the sounds of the wreck and gunfire roared from his earpiece.

"Duff's dead! The motherfucker shot him. I'm trapped inside the car. If you're going to do something you better do it fast, boss!" Hazel reported with fear making her voice tremble.

Whitney drifted around a corner and pointed down the street at Hazel's car. The figure was walking towards the car but stopped as it saw Whitney and Silver's car approaching him. The figure drew a long nagamaki sword from the scabbard hidden inside its cloak and shifted itself into a combat stance. Silver growled at the sight of one of the most powerful agents of Atlas.

"Whitney, ram that bastard." Silver snarled, to which Whitney grinned and floored the gas pedal.

As the car zoomed towards the man, he simply laughed softly under his breath before pulling a trigger on the hilt of his sword and swiping the blade horizontally at the car. As the blade cut through the air it created a large arc of electricity that shot forward towards the car.

Inside the car Silver's eyes widened at the sight of the wave of electricity speeding towards the car. He turned to Whitney and ordered her to duck before he pinned himself down against the dashboard with only seconds to spare. Whitney wasn't fast enough however and the arc of electricity cut through the top of the car and decapitated her. Her head dropped down into her lap as blood poured out from her neck.

The car kept speeding towards the man before he darted forward and punched the hood the vehicle with all of his might, causing it to come to a violent halt. Inside the car Silver groaned in pain from the force of the stop and looked at Whitney's corpse in a daze. He shook his head gently as he felt the impact of the man jumping on the hood and looked on in disbelief as he tore the roof of the car off and threw it to the side. The man reached into the car and grabbed Silver by his shirt collar before throwing him from the car and onto the hood of a parked car about thirty feet away. Silver yelled out in pain as the impact knocked the breath out of him. He rolled off of the car and onto the ground where he struggled to stand.

As the figure began to approach Silver to deliver the killing blow a loud crack rang out. The man's head jerked to the side and blood dripped from his chin. The figure raised his metal hand to his face and wiped away the blood on his cheek before turning to face Hazel who had managed to climb from her wrecked car. She stood in a combat stance with her weapon, a long whip with tiny hooks and blades built into the rope, at her side.

"Get out of here Silver. This asshole is mine." Hazel said through gritted teeth as she brushed the whip against the ground slowly.

Silver hesitated before nodding. He quickly activated his semblance and vanished from sight, much to the confusion of the cloaked man who quickly morphed his hand back into a gun and fired off a short volley at the area around where Silver had been laying seconds before. Hazel smacked the man with her whip again, getting his attention back on her.

"Hey! He's gone, asshole. It's just us now." She yelled at the man before taking a few steps to her side to give herself a better angle to fight the man.

Hazel slung her whip at the man again but he quickly raised his sword and caught the rope which wrapped around the blade. He then grinned slyly before slamming the blade down into a small puddle beside him and pulled the trigger on the hilt. A stream of electricity shot down the whip and slammed into Hazel who let out a painful scream as her body convulsed and fell to the ground. The man yanked his sword back up from the puddle and shook the rope from it before walking calmly to the still shaking Hazel. He stood over her and began to speak into the headset in his ear.

"Cinder? It's Roland. Team SHDW is taken care of. Their leader managed to escape but he shouldn't be a problem." The man said calmly before putting his foot on Hazel's throat and pressing down with enough force to crush her windpipe.

"Good job, Roland. Come back to base. We have a new mission. We're going back to Vale." Cinder's voice came over the headset.

"Roger that. On my way" Roland said as he turned and walked down the street towards where he hid his VTOL.

Silver looked on from the shadows, his semblance still active. He watched as Roland left the area before coming out of his hiding spot to retrieve his fallen teammates' belongings. He watched in anger as the Bullhead VTOL flew into the distance before speaking to himself.

"This isn't over, Roland. I will track you down and I will destroy you. You haven't seen the last of Silver Morrigan. I promise you that." Silver said out loud before trying to radio for an extraction back to his own base.


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! So I hope you all enjoyed the prologue for Nevermore's Wrath. This is the first actual chapter in the story. With this semester coming to an end soon I should be able to post chapters more regularly now. Let me know what you guys think.**

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 **I**

Weiss Schnee awoke to the sound of heavy banging on the door to her home in the business sector of New Vale City. She squeezed her eyes shut in hope that she could will herself back to sleep in order to not have to answer the door. However whoever was at the door started to knock louder and louder. She finally opened her eyes and pulled herself into a sitting position before reaching next to her bed and locking the wheels on her wheelchair so that it could not move. She then slowly pulled herself into the wheelchair before unlocking the wheels and pushed herself out of the room and into the wide hallway. She quickly pushed herself down the hallway until she reached a balcony overlooking the foyer, just in time to see a half asleep Eira hurrying to the door.

"Well there is little use opening the door now that whoever is knocking on it has awoken the entire neighborhood." Weiss said with a frown as she wheeled herself into a small elevator at the edge of the balcony before going down to the foyer.

Eira lowered her head as she backed away from the door to allow Weiss to answer it. The twelve year old girl was tall for her age, slender but athletic, and had long white hair and big golden eyes. She respectfully cleared her throat before speaking up.

"I'm sorry Councilwoman Schnee, I didn't mean to allow the knocking to wake you but…" She began before Weiss held up a hand and gave her a soft smile.

"Firstly, I told you to call me Weiss. It's been five years since I took you under my care so if I'm going to be your mother then I expect you to drop the formalities. Secondly, there is no need to apologize since we are expecting company anyways. And lastly, you shouldn't be so timid. A beautiful young girl like yourself should hold her head up with confidence. I can't allow someone who has been through so much and yet still agree to be adopted into the Schnee family act like some timid mouse. Now can I, Nina?" Weiss said before letting her smile grow as the young girl raised her head at the sound of her birth name.

Shortly after the attack on Beacon Academy the surviving students were left with the question as to who would help take care of Nina and protect her from Roland who would no doubtingly still hunt her. After several conversations as to who was most fit to act as the young girl's mother, Weiss proposed that she adopt Nina and use her family as a way to protect her. Nina agreed to the proposal and requested to change her name as to make it harder for Roland to find her. After several days of thinking up a new name she asked Weiss if the name Eira was acceptable. Weiss was more than happy to see that her newly acquired daughter had chosen a name befitting of the Schnee family. And so with Weiss' connections in the SDC and Atlas she took a position on the New Vale council, further protecting her daughter from any threat from Atlas or Roland.

"Even after all these years I still struggle at times with my identity. You've been so good to me that sometimes I just fill that it's required to treat you with the upmost respect." Eira said with a small blush.

"Nonsense, child. Even my father grew to accept you before his passing. You are a Schnee as long as you wish to be one. Now, go get cleaned up. We shouldn't keep our guests waiting any longer." Weiss said with a waving hand before quickly opening the door to her home.

Outside of the house stood four faunus, one of which was a wolf faunus who had a sour frown on her otherwise beautiful face. The leader of the group was a largely built male ram faunus with a broken horn who nodded respectfully at Weiss. Next to the large male faunus was a slender weasel fuanus and a shy looking fox faunus. The irritated looking wolf faunus stepped forward with a frown.

"About damn time! Do you know how long we have been waiting for you to open up? I understand you got to make it downstairs but you could have at least had Eira open the door!" The young faunus said as she walked into the house, her tail swaying with every step she took.

"Well good morning to you too, Amber." Weiss said as she rolled her eyes at her. "You know you could learn to be a little patient, right?" She continued as Amber stopped in the foyer's center.

"Come on, Weiss. You know how Amber can be." The large ram faunus said gently as he stepped forward before bending down to hug Weiss.

"Hello, Gwyn. Sometimes I just don't know how you all deal with her." Weiss said with a playful smile. "And hello to you as well Yamabuki and Rose. Come in, come in. I just sent Eira to freshen up before her lessons. Who will be training her today?" She continued as she wheeled herself back into the foyer.

"That would be me, your majesty." Amber said as she bowed, her tail wagging at the thought of training the young girl. "I don't know why you always have her 'freshen up' before her training. It's not like she isn't going to get sweaty anyways." Amber said as she rubbed one of her wolf ears.

"I've told you, Amber. It's best to be fully awake before training. I wouldn't want my daughter to get injured while training with some of the best fighters in New Vale." Weiss replied before rolling into the next room.

The room that Weiss entered was her private medical room. It had all of the equipment one would find in a standard doctor's office. Weiss used it to help nurse Eira's scrapes and bruises from her training with Team GRAY. But every few months it was used to allow Rose to use her healing semblance on Weiss' spine. After five years of healing, Weiss' spine had slowly improved. She still would never be able to walk again but the pain in the rest of her body from her injuries at Beacon had all but disappeared thanks to Rose.

Rose slowly entered the room behind Weiss and took a seat next to a medical bed. She patiently waited as Weiss pulled herself from her wheelchair onto the bed and laid face down. Rose closely examined her friend's back and legs and quickly wrote down some notes.

"Are you still in pain? Any phantom pain? And are you having any trouble getting in and out of our bed?" Rose asked after several minutes as she looked up from her notes.

"No, I'm feeling better with every session. The pain in my back is all but gone and I think it's safe to say that I've mastered getting in and out of the chair. It's been quite a while since I asked Eira to assist me." Weiss replied with a proud smile.

"She's right. It's been a few months since the last time she required my help with the chair. In fact she has grown quite cranky at me asking if she needs any assistance." Eira said as she came into the room, dressed in her training clothes and her long white hair in a ponytail.

"Ah! There's my favorite little lady!" Amber exclaimed as she hugged Eira. "Are you ready to train? Your mom has to talk business with Gwyn and Buki so it's just going to be us today." She continued with a sly smile as she motioned to the door.

Eira looked at Weiss worriedly as she noticed that both Gwyn and Yamabuki had pulled up chairs of their own around the bed her mother was laying on. Weiss nodded reassuringly before smiling at her.

"Go ahead, Eira." She said gently. "You'll be fine. It's not the first time you've had to train with Amber alone. We will all be in the training room to watch as soon as we are done here." She continued.

Eira nodded and took a deep breath before confidently walking with Amber out of the room. She closed the door behind her and picked up her weapon that she had laid on a nearby chair before hurrying to follow Amber down the hall.

"It's alright, kid. Your mom has been healing nicely these five years. And you've gotten a lot better at fighting. Now, why don't you say we have some fun?" Amber said with a playful grin as her tail began to wag, much to the entertainment of Eira who nodded and followed her to the training room.

Back inside the medical room, Rose began to use her semblance on Weiss' back as Gwyn and Yamabuki awaited Weiss' approval to begin their meeting. After a few minutes Weiss finally looked up at them from the bed and in a serious manner addressed them.

"Alright, what's the latest reports on Peacekeeper movements? Tell me what Yang has retrieved from her bar in No Man's Land. And tell me what you've learned from the faunus sector of the slums, Gwyn. I'm meeting with Jaune later tonight so I need to know what to expect when we go over our next operation at HQ." She said as she looked towards the large male faunus who cleared his throat before speaking.

"It's Amber's brother, Silver. Reports are coming out of Mistral that he and his team, Team SHDW, has been whipped out by Roland. Amber is taking it as well as you'd think but she keeps assuring us that she can tough it out." Gwyn said sadly with a shake of his head. "With that being said, my team and I want to take part in the next big operation. We've grown tired of just being a source of information as of late. Jaune doesn't want to risk us being caught but it's been so long since any of us have seen actual action that it's become rather boring. Silver was a hell of a fighter and was very close to Amber and Rose. For Amber's sake, we want you to convince Jaune to allow us to take part in this operation." He continued with a serious tone.

After several minutes of silence Weiss sighed and closed her eyes. She waited a few seconds before beginning to reply to Gwyn's request.

"Fine. I'll talk to Jaune about it. But you have to be able to keep Amber under control. Trust me, I know what it's like to lose loved ones." She replied sadly as she thumbed a silver locket around her neck.

"Still no word from Ruby?" Yamabuki asked softly.

"None. Not even Yang has heard from her in years. There's no telling if that dolt is even alive." Weiss said with a sad frown. "But enough about depressing topics. What has Yang reported lately?" She continued, changing her tone back to one of a serious nature.


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I'm so so so sorry about me being MIA lately. It's the end of the semester and I recently got a promotion at work so I've been insanely busy. In this chapter we see a few things about Silver as well as some of the other characters in the story. I hope you guys are as ready as I am to really get into this story since I now have more time with school being over for a month. Get hype! Love you guys!**

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 **II**

 **Silver**

Silver Morrigan breathed deeply as he spun skillfully, slicing his digital enemy's throat with his war scythe named Chimera. Sweat dripped from his chin as he focused solely on his training instead of the events that had transpired only a week before. He thrust the blade of the war scythe into another enemy before yanking it backwards into another target that approached him from behind before spinning it to slice across the target's gut. As he focused on his training Qrow Branwen entered the end training room and patiently waited for Silver to finish his fight. After a few more minutes of fighting his digital enemies the simulation came to an end, leaving Silver breathing heavily with more sweat dripping from him. He turned to Qrow before slowly approaching him.

"Qrow, sir." Silver said before snapping to attention and saluting him who playfully waved for him to stand at ease.

"You know I hate that formal bullshit, Silver. How's it feel to be retired and dead?" Qrow asked as he offered the young faunus a towel to dry his sweat with.

"Still getting used to it." Silver replied as he dabbed his forehead with the towel before removing his shirt and slipping on a button down shirt, leaving the top three buttons undone. "How was the funeral?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

Qrow lowered his head and hesitated for a few moments before sighing and looking back up at Silver.

"Exactly how you would have imagined it. Speeches, crying family members, salutes and the like. Why didn't you go? Surely you could have used your semblance to blend in." He replied before pulling out his flask and taking a sip of its contents.

"I could have gone. But I know my team wouldn't have wanted me there. They'd want me here, training to kill the man that ended their lives. Besides, it would have been kind of awkward seeing my coffin lowered in the ground without me in it." Silver responded with a small smile before motioning Qrow to follow him into the next room.

Shortly after The Purge began that resulted in the deaths of most Huntsmen and Huntresses in Remnant, Mistral's government decided to act as a safe haven for any and all former Huntsmen that wanted a place to call home. After Atlas declared war on Mistral many of these former Huntsmen had decided to act as mercenaries for Mistral. Qrow Branwen, Ruby and Yang's uncle, was one of these Huntsmen. He spent his first few years in Mistral acting as a handler for Team SHDW. With his time in that position he became close friends with Silver.

After the two men entered the next room they sat on a pair of chairs next to a small table that had cigars and a bottle of expensive liquor on it. Silver poured himself a glass and offered Qrow some who waved him off.

"No thanks, I have my own." Qrow said as he raised his flask. "But I will take one of those cigars." He continued with a smile.

Silver readied two cigars before passing one to Qrow who quickly lit it. The two sat in silence for a minute, enjoying their drinks and cigars before Qrow finally cleared his throat.

"So, I'm sure you know why I'm really here." He said before taking a few puffs from his cigar.

"I figured this wasn't a purely social meeting. Before you say anything, no I'm not going to give up on hunting down Roland. I know the higher ups in the Mistral Council want me to just live out the rest of my life being thankful that my team sacrificed themselves so I could live. But I know deep down that my team wouldn't have just slipped into a comfy life of early retirement. I can't give up." Silver replied seriously before finishing his drink and pouring another glass for himself.

"Listen kid, I think you are forgetting who you are talking to. The last thing I want you to do is to give up fighting. I'm just here to warn you that if you go through with this plan of yours then you will have no support from your government." Qrow replied with a serious tone.

"You're…not here to talk me out of it?" Silver asked with a confused look on his face.

"Fuck no. In fact I want you to hunt that son of a bitch down." Qrow said with a grin. "You just got to understand that officially you are already dead. If you get caught in Vale then there is no negotiations or prisoner trades. You get caught, you're going to be really dead. Also, this guy you are going after. What's his name again?" He continued before taking a sip from his flask.

"Roland Egle. Codenames and aliases include 'The Nevermore', 'The Butcher of Beacon', 'The Traitor', and my personal favorite 'Ace of Spades'." Silver replied as he sat back in his chair and blew out a smoke ring.

"Roland is the Ace of Spades? Damn, that'd be a nice payday if you managed to deliver his head to The Council." Qrow replied, trailing off into his own thoughts before shaking his head. "This Roland guy is dangerous. He's one of the best Atlas has. Hell, the team he's on is the most dangerous team in Remnant. You go after him then you better be ready for the fight of your life, kid." He continued.

"I will be. Thanks, old man." Silver replied with a sly grin.

After a few more minutes of back and forth small talk Qrow again brought up the subject of Silver's plan to go to Vale.

"Say you manage to kill him. What then? You can't come back here. The second you leave Mistral then you are rouge. Hell, just to keep the information in your mind from being shared with anyone else they might send a team after you. What will you do if you actually manage to get your revenge?" Qrow questioned his young friend before taking a puff of his cigar.

Silver sat silently for a few minutes and thought about what his friend had just asked him. He never really put in much thought as to what would happen if he actually managed to kill Roland. He smirked before downing the rest of his drink and setting the glass to the side.

"My team and I once talked about what we would do if any of us managed to survive this war and retire. There's a small island off the coast of the kingdom that we once went to on a mission. This island has nobody living on it and is now Grimm free, thanks to my team. We decided that we would all just disappear to this island and build a settlement for us and our families. We would live there in peace. Grow crops, hunt the wildlife, and just leave all the worries of the rest of Remnant behind. I think I'll go there. I think if I manage to pull this off then I will move there and make a makeshift graveyard for my team and I. Afterwards I'll build me a small hut and just live out the rest of my life in peace." Silver explained as he looked at Qrow. He frowned sadly as he thought about living there without his team before shaking the thought away.

Qrow nodded respectfully before putting out his cigar and leaning back in his chair. He gave Silver a serious look before finally speaking.

"When you go to Vale, I want you to take someone with you. I'd get her there myself but I have business in Atlas. The Council wants me to act as a representor to some peace talks in Atlas' capital. Turns out there is a lot of civil unrest in Atlas with many members of their government wanting this war to end sooner rather than later." Qrow said before looking over Silver's shoulder at a figure that had been hiding around the corner and motioning the person into the room.

"Oh? I take it that you will be protected? Of course that's assuming you haven't pissed off your only friend in Atlas. And I was wondering when you'd tell her to come in. I could hear her breathing this whole time. You know you can't hide someone from a highly trained faunus, old man." Silver replied with a grin before standing and turning to greet his mysterious guest.

"First off, Winter is not my only friend there. And secondly, my…friendship with her is rocky as ever but stable enough that she most likely won't have me killed." Qrow said as he stood at Silver's side.

The figure approached Silver and Qrow before it reached out a gloved hand to Silver who took it cautiously. The figure was a young woman in a red hooded cape with long black hair resting gently at the bottom of the hood. After shaking Silver's hand the woman slowly pulled her hood back and smiled confidently. As she smiled at Silver, her right eye started to glow with a red light coming from its pupil. Silver titled his head as he looked the woman over.

"Red hood, black hair, scared face around the right eye socket, and a robotic right eye. Is this who I think it is, Qrow?" Silver asked as he turned to Qrow.

"It is. Silver, I'd like you to meet my niece. This is Ruby Rose. Ruby, this is Silver. Otherwise known as his call sign 'Revenant'. Silver, I want you to take Ruby with you to Vale. She's been gone for a few years and has finally decided to go back to her home." Qrow said before placing a hand on Ruby's head.

"So this is the young lady whose eye replacement led to my life being saved? It's an honor to meet you, ma'am." Silver replied before nodding respectfully at Ruby who tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh, that's right. She doesn't know about that. Ruby, Silver is the first and only cybernetic enhanced faunus. Your eye being replaced after Beacon was done by the same doctor that saved Silver's life." Qrow said with a chuckle. "I think he did a great job. Don't you, Ruby?" He asked.

"Doctor Hale? Wow, that's pretty cool. Although…I'm sorry but I don't understand. You look perfectly normal to me." Ruby questioned as she looked the faunus over.

"Well, that's because shortly after Atlas invaded Mistral I was sent to a small village near the swamps west of the kingdom to help evacuate civilians. While there my team and I were also tasked with placing explosives and other traps in the mud and swamp waters." Silver began. "While carrying out our mission an Atlas bombing run started on the village as ground troops started to move into the area. We had to speed up our evacuation but as we moved a family out of their home we realized that a child was still inside and was too scared to come out due to the explosions going on around us." Silver continued.

"What happened?" Ruby said with a small sparkle in her eye.

"I ran to the house as fast as I could but when I was only a short distance from it a bomb went off and took out the home. I was thrown at least fifty feet and the child was killed instantly. I don't remember much after that except waking up in a hospital two weeks later. According to Doctor Hale they had to take both my legs, my right arm, and three ribs on my right side because of my injuries. I also lost my hearing due to the air blast of the bomb. They could have done any sort of regular robotic replacement surgery like they do to most soldiers, but instead Doctor Hale and the Mistral Council wanted me to be part of an experiment." Silver replied as he started to undo the rest of his buttons to expose scars from the surgeries.

"You see, the cybernetic enhancements that Silver received are highly advanced implants that use robotic limbs and electrical wires that are commanded by a microchip inside his brain that has wires attached to his spine. The wiring in his spine helps his reflexes as well as powers his robotic limbs. The skin is a type of super strong plated alloy that is resistant to minor damage. His leg implants allows him to move quickly while his arm provides him with extra strength in that arm. He also has enhanced microphones and speakers built into his ears that allow him to have an increased sense of hearing and perception." Qrow said with a proud smile. "Hey, Silver? Maybe you should show Ruby what you can do before you two leave for Vale." He continued, winking at Ruby who grinned excitedly.

"I would be honored to fight the fabled Red Death herself." Silver said with a smile.

"And I would be honored to fight you, 'Revenant'. Ruby said with a wide smile.

 **Eira**

While Silver met with Qrow in Mistral, back in New Haven City Eira and Amber clashed inside a training room inside Weiss and Eira's house. Amber quickly danced away from Eira who dashed towards her, Weiss' Myrtenaster ready to strike. Eira thrust the rapier at Amber's face as fast as she could but Amber just dodged the blows without much effort. Amber grinned as she continued to toy with her young pupil. She leapt back and leaned against the wall of the training room as she waited for Eira to catch her breath.

"Come on, kid. It's like you've gotten slower since you started to train with Gwyn. Last time we fought you actually got close a few times to hitting me." Amber said with a grin and wag of her tail.

Eira clenched her teeth before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened her eyelids she revealed that her eyes had changed from a golden color to that of a milky white. Amber titled her head as the young girl slipped into a trance like state from her semblance kicking in. Eira dashed towards Amber who had barely enough time to block an incoming blow and try to counter the attack. Eira effortlessly dodged the attack and dove to the side before slicing at Amber who dodged just in time to not be hit by the blow.

"What the fuck? Where did this come from?" Amber said as she struggled to dodge more incoming attacks before finally catching Eira's arm and punching her in the face to knock her out of the trance.

At the contact of Amber's skin against hers while in her trance, several images flashed through Eira's mind. She fell to the floor and clinched her head before screaming loudly out of fear. Amber looked on in confusion before Gwyn, Rose, Yamabuki, and Weiss rushed into the room. Weiss wheeled herself to Eira's side and angrily turned to Amber.

"What the hell did you do?" She growled at the young faunus as the rest of Team GRAY came rushing to help.

"Nothing! We were training and out of nowhere her eyes turned white, she got really fast and then I punched her. After I hit her she just did this." Amber said with a worried tone as her ears laid back and her tail fell between her legs.

"Her eyes turned white? Damnit, she must have used her semblance. Gwyn, get her to the infirmary." Weiss said quickly as she wheeled herself out of the room with Gwyn, now carrying Eira, in tow.

The rest of Team GRAY followed their leader and Weiss down the hall back towards the infirmary where Rose quickly ran in with them. Amber began to enter the room but Weiss glared at her and frowned.

"No. You stay out, you've done quite enough already." The young woman snapped at Amber before slamming the door. Amber's tail tucked even further between her legs in response.

 **Yang**

In the slums of New Vale City, Yang awoke with a small yawn before sitting up. She ruffled her pixie style short blonde hair, rubbed a scar on the side of her neck, and stretched which allowed the sheets that clung to her slightly sweaty naked body to fall from her to reveal a large tattoo of a dragon that wrapped around her. The tattoo started with the head of the beast at the back of her left shoulder, went down her toned back, wrapped around her right side, and ended with its tail spiraling down her right thigh. She slid out from her bed, careful not to awaken Blake, and opened the window nearby. She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt a cool spring breeze enter the room. Due to living in the slums, her house got stuffy during the hotter months in New Vale City so it felt nice to have the breeze every now and then.

As Yang got dressed she heard stirring under the blankets of her bed. She smiled before pulling back the covers to reveal the naked form of her wife, Blake Belladonna. Blake's right cat ear twitched before her eyes popped open and she sat up, her hair falling onto her breasts. She yawned cutely before looking at Yang and smiling.

"Good morning, love. What time is it?" Blake greeted her wife before reaching out her hand for Yang to hand her some clothes.

"Judging by the noise on the street? I'd say about eight. The markets are opening and it smells like some of the vendors are already cooking." Yang replied as she handed Blake her undergarments.

Yang sat on the end of the bed as her lover stood and slipped on her bra and panties. She looked in the mirror across from the bed and rigorously scrubbed her hair again with a look of determination on her face. Blake looked at her lover and giggled gently before hugging Yang from behind, kissed her cheek, and smiled at the mirror.

"Why do you keep it short if you're just going to mess with it constantly and fuss about it being short?" Blake said with a twitch of one of her cat ears. "Honestly I still can't believe they managed to cut all your hair off. Although…even after a year I still think it looks good on you." She continued.

"The fuckers had to tie me down and drug me to cut it all off. Even then I was close to breaking out of the restraints." Yang growled with a frown on her face.

Two years ago Yang was arrested for having ties to the VLA and was imprisoned for a year on a massive prison ship that once rested off the coast of New Vale City. The day she arrived at the prison the guards heavily sedated her and chained her to a table. While she was heavily drugged the guards attempted to torture her, much to their disappointment due to Yang's semblance, for information regarding the VLA. When torture didn't work then one of the guards tried to rape her. The guard lost an ear the moment he tried to lay himself on top of her. In response, the guards drugged her again and used dull knives to shave Yang's head. It took seven guards to keep her held down long enough for her large amount of hair to be cut away. Afterwards they kept Yang heavily sedated and placed a shock collar around her neck that had enough kick to it that it'd kill anyone else.

Yang was kept away from the other prisoners most of the time due to her tendency to commit acts of brutal violence to guards and prisoners alike. Her last day in regular detainment she disemboweled the warden's son, who also happened to be the captain of the guard, with a spoon after her roommate and only friend she had in the prison was murdered by him. This friend of hers was a young woman with the identification tag of Prisoner 8524 and was murdered one morning during cell inspection. The captain shocked Yang to the point that she was barely able to stay awake and he then proceeded to beat Prisoner 8524 to death with his guard baton. Later that night at dinner Yang ambushed the captain and murdered him with the spoon. She was shocked so badly that the chip inside the collar shorted out and left large burns on her neck that left the scars on the side of her neck. Yang spent the next eight months in isolation inside a windowless cell with almost no food or water. Team GRAY ended up mounting a rescue mission that ended in the prison ship being destroyed and Yang rescued.

Yang shook her head at the thought of her year in prison and leaned back against her wife before looking up at her and smiling.

"You really like it this short? I used to miss my hair but I guess I have gotten used to it now." Yang said while looking up at her lover who just smiled softly and leaned down to kiss her.

As Blake leaned down to kiss Yang her scroll started to get a message alert, much to the frustration of Yang.

"I thought we told Jaune that we were on vacation today? Of course vacation meaning us running The Wyvern all day." Yang said with an annoyed but loving smile.

"It's not Jaune, it's from Gwyn. He says that we are needed to help with Weiss as soon as we can. It's apparently about Eira. He wants us to meet him at The Wyvern to discuss something. Do you think we have time to get over there?" Blake said after reading the message on her scroll.

For a few moments Yang sat in silence as she thought about what they should do. After a few more moments she grinned and sat up before turning around to Blake who she kissed gently.

"Considering we don't have to open the bar until tonight, I guess we can go see ole Ice Queen. Hey, maybe we can get Frost to swing by before everyone else gets there to help us make some drinks. Hopefully little Eira is okay. I can only imagine the shit that Weiss has gotten her into this time." Yang said as she motioned Blake to head to the door of the house with her.

"Frost? She's the fox faunus you hired, right?" Blake questioned with a twitch of one of her ears as she tried to remember the newly hired employee of Yang and hers bar. "The…one with white hair and blue eyes?" She continued as she walked towards the door.

"Yeah! She's a cutie, huh? I figured it couldn't hurt to have two beautiful faunus ladies at the bar. Maybe we'll get a little more traffic in The Wyvern if she shows off a little skin." Yang said with a sly grin before noticing the angry look on Blake's face. "I mean…yes. She's the one. She seems like a hard worker." She tried correcting herself, which Blake responded to with a smack on the back of Yang's head.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! So this chapter is somewhat shorter than most of the ones I write. However it introduces a new villain character to our story. Of course with a new villain means I have to show just how "evil" this character is. I hope you guys enjoy.**

* * *

 **III**

Onyx awoke to the sound of his chamber door opening. The loud creaking of the gears that kept the heavy steel door in place to his small cell echoed in his ears. The sound grew more and more irritating as the gears screeched before finally coming to a stop. He slowly blinked his large black eyes before calmly walking out of his cell into a larger pitch black room. He could hear breathing and could taste fear in the air as he gathered his senses and took in his surroundings. He slowly scratched at the shock collar around his neck as he looked around slowly.

Onyx's eyes were unable to cut through the darkness on their own. He could only see about fifteen feet ahead of him and even then everything was in a dark blue hue. To be able to see better he clicked his large tongue a few times and suddenly the room came to life as the sound waves became visible to him. As the waves spread out in front of him three figures glowed as the waves bounced off of them and came speeding back to him. His hyper sensitive ears twitched as the sonar filled them. The figures were crowded together and were trembling from fear. He could tell from their size that it was a man, woman, and young child.

Curious about the figures that had invaded his living space Onyx spread his massive wings that were attached to his back between his shoulder blades, expanding them to their full sixteen foot wingspan, before flapping them a few times to gain lift. He drove himself upwards to the ceiling of the room and flipped himself so he could grab onto a steel support beam. He clicked his tongue again to find the three figures, curiously tilting his head as he investigated them from afar. As he looked on a loud voice came booming across the intercom system in the room. This voice had been his only friend for the past four years of his life. In fact, Onyx could only just remember what he guessed was six years of his life. Everything before was just a haze and fragments of long forgotten dreams.

"I'll ask one more time. What is the location of the VLA headquarters? What is their next move? Tell me names and locations and I promise you that you and your family are free to go." Echoed the loud voice from the speaker.

Onyx's stomach started to ache as he looked on from his perch above the figures. He couldn't remember the last time he had fed and as he waited the stronger his hunger grew. His body trembled as he silently awaited the command from his speaker friend to feed. He was patient though. Onyx remembered all too well the amount of pain that striking without permission would grant him. He clicked his tongue again to continue to see his potential prey.

"Damnit, I've told you everything I know! Please, just let my family go! They have nothing to do with what I've done!" The larger figure yelled out in the dark, his shape glowing brighter from his yelling and as fear seeped through his pores.

"Your family became a part of this when you joined the VLA. You have committed crimes against Atlas and her people. And for that you must be punished." The voice replied with anger.

"Atlas and her people? What about Vale? We were in a time of peace with Atlas! You invaded us for no reason and killed the very people that swore to protect all life!" The man yelled again.

Onyx grew restless as he looked on. He thought about how the man would taste bitter due to his fear and anger releasing chemicals into his blood and meat. Although the man would yield the most substance to Onyx, he would not be a good feeding. He would simply get rid of the loud, angry man.

"Enough! I've grown tired of these games. You've made your decision. Onyx, kill." The voice said with a cold emotion in its voice.

Onyx's ears perked at the command and he acted instantly. He quickly let go of the steel beam and fell downward towards his prey. He folded his wings backward to increase his speed before lowering his large clawed feet downward. Onyx crashed into the man, crushing his bones and spraying blood and debris in all directions. The woman figure ran as fast as she could across the room to get away from him. However it would do her no good as he loved to chase his prey.

Onyx darted towards the woman with his wings flapping powerfully before slamming her into a wall. He opened his mouth widely, exposing his sharp fangs, before chomping onto her shoulder. Blood gushed into his mouth as he drank selfishly. The warm liquid pleased him greatly as it satisfied his hunger and he felt his body becoming more powerful with each second of feeding.

As Onyx fed on the woman, he heard the scream of the young child across the room. Her screech filled his ears and irritated him greatly. He dropped the still twitching woman and licked his chin with his long tongue before darting towards the sound of the scream. Within seconds he was on top of the child, her face covered in tears as his massive body loomed above her. He grinned sinisterly as he reached out a clawed hand towards the child's neck. The child soiled herself as his hand clasped her neck and pulled her into the air. The smell of the child's fear overpowered the strong stench of her waste and this drove Onyx's bloodlust even further as he thrust a claw from his other hand into the stomach of the child. He grinned wider as he disemboweled the girl, letting her blood pour onto his face.

Seconds later he threw the dead child's body to the side, lifted his head upwards, and let out a loud screech that echoed throughout the room. It had only taken a matter of moments for him to complete the task he was ordered to do. He waited for his friend's voice to come across the speakers to praise him, but it never came. Onyx looked around confused as he had always been praised for his kills. He let out a low pitched chirp to fill the entire room with sound waves and instantly saw a window high above him built into one of the walls. He flew to the window and grabbed ahold of the wall above it so that he may see inside. He could hear his friend talking inside and could see what looked like a television on the wall inside the room with a figure on it.

"Yes sir, General Ironwood. Onyx, or codename Gargoyle, has been ready for field operations for some time now." His friend said as he stepped in front of the screen.

"That is well and good, Doctor Taupe. However Nevermore has been more successful than any of your experiments to date. Roland has become the best solider we could ever hope for. I'm sorry but Gargoyle will have to wait for some time before seeing any action in the field." Ironwood replied before looking over Doctor Taupe's shoulder at Onyx. "Uh…doctor." He said softly.

Taupe spun around and smiled at Onyx who tilted his head as he looked at the only friend he ever had for the first time in his life.

"Son…you've found the window. I'm sure you are curious but we will have to talk later. Go to your cell, that's an order." Taupe said with a stern voice.

Onyx looked at the man behind the glass as his mind raced. Suddenly he started to remember the dreams he had been having for the past several years were starting to make sense. The man before him was his creator. He was his father.

"Ta-Taupe. S-son. Onyx." Onyx said in a deep voice. It had been the first time he spoke to another living thing in years. His mind raced even harder due to this.

"Yes, you're Onyx. Now go back to your cell. We will talk later. Onyx, return to your cell." Taupe commanded louder as he walked over to the window.

Onyx felt a sudden urge to return to his cell. He knew that tone of voice would only bring pain to him if he disobeyed. The last time he disobeyed when that tone of voice had issued a command, the collar around his neck sent a shock into him. He let go of the window and fell backwards towards the ground before spreading his wings and gliding to his cell where he quickly ducked inside it. As he entered his cell the gears to the heavy door started to creak once more to lock him inside. As the door closed Onyx thought about the things he had heard Taupe and Ironwood discussing when a name came to his thoughts.

"N-Nevermore. Roland." Onyx said as he watched the door seal itself in place.


	5. Chapter 4

**IV**

"So what can you tell me about him?" Ruby asked her uncle as they walked to Silver's training room. She beamed with excitement at the idea of sparring with someone besides her uncle.

"He's a scythe user like us but he uses a war scythe instead of one like we do. It's named Chimera. His type of scythe is like a spear and scythe had a very ugly, but deadly, baby. Its alternate form is a highly advanced assault rifle with a large bayonet on the end." Qrow replied. "However, you should know one thing." He continued.

"What's that?" Ruby asked, stopping short of the door to the training room.

"Do not, under any circumstances, let his blade cut you. Silver has a specially designed poisonous oil he coats the blade of his weapon with that uses Dust and a few herbs. This poison is designed to cause an extremely painful reaction that is almost certain to cause the victim to die. I'm sure he knows not to strike you to actually harm you, but he is one of the best Huntsmen I have ever worked with. He's fast, maybe faster than you, and has the aggressive nature of a Deathstalker. I have no doubt in your abilities, but just beware of him." Qrow said with a frown.

"That's okay uncle Qrow." Ruby replied with a smile as she unhooked her cape and let Crescent Rose II, a highly upgraded version of her original scythe, deploy. "I'll try not to embarrass your drinking buddy too badly." She continued before winking at her uncle who couldn't help but smile at his niece.

Ruby had changed greatly since she left Vale five years ago. She decided to leave Vale after Beacon's destruction because she felt that the injuries that her teammates and friends received could have been avoided if she had been a better leader. She blamed herself greatly for the state that Weiss was in above all else. Ruby had matured into a beautiful young woman in the last five years as well, despite the scars on the right side of her face near her eye. Her long hair rested right below her shoulders and she stood with a slender but athletic frame.

Her scythe was now a much slimmer model that she upgraded to shortly after leaving Vale. Crescent Rose II's blade was somewhat shorter now with a serrated set of teeth that ran along the length of it. The blade also came with a highly advanced Dust reactor in it where the staff met the blade that glowed a dark red. The staff section itself was much slimmer now since the reactor at the tip of it was where all of its sniper shots were produced instead of having traditional bullets. This modification had turned Crescent Rose into a high powered laser sniper system that could reach targets much further away without bullet drop or discharge of spent ammo. These modifications had also made the scythe's weight drop a considerable amount as well.

Ruby smiled confidently as she let Crescent Rose II deploy before readying it to strike. Silver smiled at her confidence as he positioned himself into a fighting stance and raised his war scythe into a defensive position.

"Alright, Miss Rose. Come show me what you got." Silver said with a calm tone.

Ruby dashed forward, covering the distance between her and Silver in a second. She swung her scythe as hard as she could, expecting Silver to struggle to dodge her opening strike. However, Silver easily parried her blow and kicked her in the chest which sent her sliding back on her rear. Ruby looked at Silver with amazement that he could so easily fend off her speed before leaping to her feet. She readied herself to strike again when he vanished from her sight, leaving her stunned.

"Behind you." Qrow said in an almost annoyed tone as he watched the fight from a distance.

Ruby spun around to come face to face with Silver who had the blunt side of his war scythe's blade speeding towards Ruby's face. She quickly blocked the attack and jumped backwards before dashing back at Silver and raining several blows onto him. Silver dodged and blocked the incoming strikes before countering with a few attacks of his own, stabbing at the young woman before him.

After a few minutes of back and forth attacks and counter attacks, Ruby started to grow tired. She had her semblance on overdrive but still could not manage to beat Silver's speed. She quickly started to rely on her robotic eye to track his attacks and movements whenever he decided to turn invisible.

 _Shit. Qrow was right about his speed. It must be from those robotic legs of his._ Ruby thought to herself as she dodged another blow from Silver.

Frustrated at how the fight was going, Ruby quickly disarmed Silver by knocking his war scythe from his hands and kicked him in the stomach with all her might. He flew backwards before flipping and slamming his robotic fist downward and came to a screeching halt. Her jaw dropped as she saw deep claw marks in the floor where he had hit his arm downward. Silver grinned as he pulled his hand up to show off a set of metal claws coming from his fingertips. He then also raised his other arm and showed a set of cat claws coming from the tips of those fingers as well.

"Sorry, Ruby. I guess I should've told you that my scythe isn't my only weapon. One of my faunus traits is that I have retractable claws in both hands. However, since this arm is part of my cybernetic enhancements its claws are made of a highly durable and extra sharp alloy." Silver said with a confident smirk before dashing towards Ruby.

Ruby readied herself to counter his attack when he suddenly vanished and darted to her side. She tried tracking his movements but because her robotic eye had a short delay in switching between tracking normal signatures to tracking movement or heat, she hesitated in turning to defend herself. Before Ruby could block Silver's incoming attack, he swiped at her with his normal claws and cut a shallow set of gashes in Ruby's front section of her clothes which exposed her sports bra and belly.

Silver hesitated to strike again as the image of Ruby's midsection filled his eyes. Her abs had beads of sweat on them and a small trickle of blood formed on her belly from one of his claws cutting too deep. As he hesitated, Ruby took the chance to end the fight by shoving the top of her scythe into his face and gave him just enough time to duck before she pulled the trigger on the staff of her weapon. A loud bang filled the room as a red laser shot into the wall behind Silver. He quickly raised his hands in submission as Qrow approached the two with a proud grin on his face.

"Well, shit. You two make quite a pair in battle. I had a feeling that the fight would be close but damn that was way closer than I thought it would be!" Qrow said as he put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Yeah, you're not too bad." Ruby said with a small smile as she looked at Silver.

"Yeah, you too." Silver replied. "Oh, and I'm sorry about your clothes. At least I didn't cut you too badly it looks like." He continued as he pointed at Ruby's stomach.

Ruby blushed a deep red as she realized that Silver could see her stomach and quickly covered it up before laughing nervously.

"Oh…it's nothing. It's literally just a scratch. Your claws are a lot sharper than they look." She replied with an embarrassed tone.

"Alright you two. Let's talk about the plan to get you both into Vale." Qrow said hurriedly in order to break up the two's moment.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! I would like to firstly apologize for the really long break we have had before me updating Nevermore's Wrath. I have been working a huge amount and struggling with a big choice in my life. I have decided to take a semester or so long break from school to work full time and to give myself more time for my writings. This amount of extra time will allow me to get further into this story before finally starting on my original work that I plan on trying to publish. I hope you guys haven't missed me too much and understand this long break I've taken recently. I love all of you and hope you enjoy my new chapter which features one of my new OC's, Frost Bonadea!**

* * *

 **V**

Frost Bonadea struggled against the weight of the man holding her down by her shoulders. His middle finger situated on top of a bullet wound in her right shoulder. She looked on with tears streaming down her face and her mother's screams filled her ears as the smoke from the White Fang thug's gun still hung in the air. Frost's mother wiped at the blood of her husband that dripped from her face, his body still twitched on the floor of their small home outside of the Kingdom of Atlas. The White Fang member who just killed Frost's father simply laughed at the reactions of the two remaining members of the Bonadea family. The other four thugs just looked on silently.

"Your husband made a big mistake, thinking he could simply escape us like that." One of the thugs said as he kneeled down in front of Frost's mother and offered her a rag to wipe the gore from her face. "We know it's not easy to accept, but you should know we have no plans to let you or your daughter live here alive. Your entire family knows too much about our plans. That is why these things are happening to you." He continued from under his Grimm mask.

"P-please…spare my daughter." Frost's mother said as tears filled her eyes. "She's only just a child. She's just sixteen! She hasn't done anything wrong. She doesn't even know what your plans are!" She continued to beg as she gripped at the rag the White Fang member had given her.

"That's not my call, lady." Said the man with an almost sad tone.

"Hey, why don't we have a little fun with these two before we kill them? Adam never lets us have our way and he isn't here. What you think?" Said the White Fang member who had his weight pressed down into Frost's shoulder. He casually let his finger slide into Frost's bullet wound as he spoke.

Frost screamed out in pain as she fought to stay awake. The pain in her shoulder was so immense that every second the thug had his finger inside the wound, she could feel herself getting close to passing out. She clinched her teeth to stop herself from screaming as she looked across the room at her mother who still kneeled next to the corpse of her father. The look that appeared on her mother's face turned her stomach inside out.

"No. If I tell you everything I know, all of the plans he made, all of his contacts that he talked to. Will you let my daughter go? I…I will even let you have your way with me. Don't do that to her, she's just a teenager. She's a stupid girl who knows nothing about what went on in your organization." Frost's mother said as she looked up at the White Fang member who had now stood up from kneeling.

After a few seconds of silence, the White Fang member in front of her mother looked around the room and saw that none of his men were complaining at the offer. He nodded slowly before grabbing ahold of the back of her mother's head and jerked her upwards.

"Okay, bitch. You got your wish. But your little girl gets to watch. And if she so much as makes a sound then she'll get another bullet in her. Hell, I might even let my friend standing above her poke around inside that hole in her shoulder. Just to see if she screams." The thug said cruelly, much to the amusement of his friends before he threw Frost's mother against the small table situated in the same room and tore her clothes to expose her rear.

It was in this moment that Frost's eyes snapped open and she shot up to find herself on her cot inside her small apartment above Yang's bar. Frozen droplets of sweat clung to her skin as her semblance started to calm down. She looked around at her room and took in the sight of what her nightmare induced semblance flare had caused in her apartment.

Icicles hung from her ceiling and ice covered her floor in every direction. She sat on her small cot for a few moments as she took in the nightmare like memory she had dreamed. It had been months since she last had an episode like this. As she sat on the cot she thought about how she needed to destress her life and go on vacation. However as she thought this her computer flickered to life, ice cracking from the heat of the monitor and sound coming from the speakers. She was receiving a video call from her handlers in Atlas.

Frost carefully walked across her still frozen floor and shook the ice from her computer's monitor before sitting down in the cold seat before answering the call. The face that shown on the screen seconds later was that of Winter Schnee, who looked worried at the sight of Frost's apartment behind her.

"Agent Ice Widow? What happened to your apartment?" Winter said with a worried tone.

"My apartment? Oh…yeah…I think my air condition might be broken or something. It's weird how cold it got last night." Frost replied jokingly before clearing her throat at the sight of the unamused look on Winter's face.

"You had another flashback, didn't you?" Winter asked.

"W-what? No…of course not." Frost replied with a small chuckle.

"Frost. Do not lie to me. I know how you get when you have these flashbacks. Tell me what happened." Winter commanded her.

"W-well…" Frost began with an embarrassed blush. "I dreamed about the night I lost my family." She continued.

"Oh…well I know this is a difficult way for you to wake up. And if you need to have the day off I can pull some strings to have you on rest duty." Winter said with a sad smile, at which Frost shook her head.

"No, ma'am." Frost said with an instant change in her tone. "I'm operational still and until our mission is complete I will remain operational and good to go." She continued.

"Good, send me your report for this week by the end of the day. Schnee, out." Winter replied before disconnecting the call.

Frost sat at in her seat for a few moments with her eyes closed. She silently thought about the day she lost her family before taking a deep breath and standing up. As she did so her scroll lit up from a message. She opened the message and sighed in relief when she saw it was from Yang.

"Frost, open The Wyvern as soon as you can. We have a big meeting scheduled to start there shortly and we need everything running smoothly. Also, please prepare some drinks and food as I am sure people will be hungry. Thanks!" Frost read the message aloud as she started for the door, quickly changing into some clothes as she slipped on some ice on the floor.

Frost growled at the sight of the ice still covering her room before just shaking her head and leaving the apartment with a firm slam of her door.

"I don't have time for this bullshit. I'll deal with the ice later. Hell, maybe I'll get Ember or Yang to help me. They _do_ owe me for that one time they both drunkenly trashed my apartment with Amber and Rose." Frost said to herself as she walked down the dirt road towards Yang's bar.

The Wyvern was a bar situated on the edge of the area of Vale commonly known as The Slums or The Forgotten Sector by those living inside it. About a half mile area between it and the rest of New Vale was an area simply known as No Man's Land. This area of abandoned buildings and empty streets was created shortly after the war as a way of letting this run down section of the city be cut off from the rest of the city. This was highly popular in the rest of the city due to the amount of crime in this area. The fact that even Atlas peacekeepers disliked venturing into this area of the city made it a prime location for the VLA to set up its headquarters, which just happened to be in the basement of The Wyvern.

Frost arrived at the bar and quickly unlocked the door before walking in. She wasn't five feet into the bar when a flash of black fur leapt through the air at her. She caught the flying animal with grace and spun around with it in her arms.

"Hey, Zwei! How's our little guard dog? Did you miss me? Yang will be coming by shortly." Frost said with a smile on her face as she rubbed Zwei's ears.

After a few moments of loving on Zwei, Frost let him jump from her arms and back to the floor. She quickly moved across the bar and got out several glasses to pour beer in before ducking into the small kitchen in the next room to begin making some snacks.

Even though she had only been working for Yang and Blake for less than a month, it was a normal occurrence for one of them to call her in early for these types of meetings. After all, Yang and Blake were two of the five leaders of the Vale Liberation Army. Reminding herself of this made a shiver sneak down her spine. Winter had told her that she had made contact with Weiss and informed her of Frost's position as a spy for her. However, Winter had yet to inform anyone within the VLA, even Weiss, of Frost's position as a double agent within Ironwood's ranks.

General Ironwood had recruited Frost personally from Atlas' secret service to act as a spy inside Vale and to get information on the VLA. However he had thankfully never learned that Winter Schnee had already recruited the young faunus. Winter had taken Frost on as her spy with the sole purpose of dismantling Ironwood's operations in Vale due to her own political rivalry with her former boss. Frost's job was to play the role of Ironwood's spy inside the VLA while feeding him false information and feeding both Winter and Weiss correct information on Atlas movements. It was a highly dangerous act she had to put on but for Winter she would do anything.

About an hour after Frost arrived at the bar she heard the sounds of a group approaching the entrance. She quickly used her semblance to frost over the several drinks she laid out before silently taking a deep breath. Moments later Weiss, Team GRAY, and Eira all came through the entrance of the bar. Frost perked up at the sight of Weiss before coming from behind the counter to great her friends.

"I thought you were Yang and Blake." Frost said with a small smile before hugging each of them.

"Are they late again?" Weiss said with an annoyed tone.

"Sadly, yes." Frost replied. "I don't get how they are always late to their own bar." She continued.

"It's mainly Blake's fault." Came the voice of Yang who had just entered the bar with Blake.

"I'm so sure. Basement?" Weiss asked as Eira turned her wheelchair so that she could face Yang.

Yang nodded with a playful smile before turning to Frost and nodding towards the bar.

"Be a dear and stay up here, will you? We need security for a meeting of this level. I'll even leave little Eira here with you so she can keep you and Zwei company." Yang said before grabbing a drink off of the counter and patting Zwei on the head.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be up here if you guys need me." Frost responded with a submissive nod before getting back behind the counter.

Yang and the rest of the group exited through a door behind the counter that led to the basement where most of their meetings took place. Deep beneath the bar rested a homemade headquarters that was usually, like this day, guarded by Frost. She had never been below in the basement but she knew one day that the leadership in the VLA would grow to trust her enough to join them downstairs.

After about a few minutes of small talk with Eira, Frost noticed Zwei acting strangely towards the door. Frost's ears twitched at the small sound of someone trying to force the lock on the door. She quickly let out a low whistle to command Zwei to come to her before turning to Eira who sat at the bar as she sipped on a soda.

"Stay here." Frost commanded as she left behind the bar and walked towards the door slowly.

As she reached the door she took in a deep breath as she prepared herself for the worst scenario, that being a Peacekeeper raid. She quickly snatched ahold of the doorknob and pulled the door open to reveal four male faunus. One had been knelt down while trying to pick the lock, the other three seemed shocked that someone was inside as they spun around. The four of them were very athletic looking and had weapons. Their clothing was red and black tunics with a hood over heads and a mask on their faces. The masks resembled the old White Fang ones but with a painted red handprint on them. The sight of this uniform that so closely resembled the old White Fang ones made Frost's blood begin to boil.

"Eira, why don't you take Zwei into the next room and see if he will do some tricks for you?" Frost said over her shoulder, silently sighing as Eira did as she was told at the sight of the four faunus. She then turned to the four faunus before smiling confidently. "May I help you?" She asked them.

"We weren't expecting anyone to be here. The place is usually closed this early." Said the biggest one with a gruff voice.

"Well there is. The bar however is closed so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Frost replied as she started to shut the door.

As the door started to shut, the biggest faunus in the group stuck his boot in the way to block her from closing the door. Frost smiled at this as she was hoping they were stupid enough to pick a fight with her. She slowly opened the door again as the four faunus barged their way into the bar.

"Do you know who we are?" The biggest one asked her.

"A couple of assholes who don't know our hours of operations? Or are you just some idiots who like to dress like weirdos?" Frost said with a smug grin.

One of the other three faunus quickly stepped towards her but was held back by the biggest one. Frost made a note of this as it showed who the leader of the group was and which one was the quickest to react to insults.

"We are members of the New White Fang, lady. And seeing as you are a fellow faunus I'll let those two insults you just threw at us go. We're taking all of your money. Think of it as payment to protect your sorry ass from Atlas Peacekeepers." The big one said calmly.

"New White Fang? What, did you guys not get the memo a few years ago? Your cause is as dead as Adam Taurus himself. And even when the White Fang were around, they were nothing but pieces of shit bullies. Now, how about your pathetic excuses for faunus flesh get the fuck out of this bar before you make me angry." Frost replied, letting her anger for even the name of the White Fang's late leader show.

"Make you angry? What you going to do? You're just one little faunus girl without a weapon." Said the one who had been trying to pick the lock.

"How about this, you give us all your money and maybe we don't rough you up. You give us some lip again and we might have to teach you some respect, bitch." The hot headed one said as he took another step towards Frost.

Frost made her move quickly, she activated her semblance and gripped her right hand closed before slamming the bottom of her fist into the chest of the hot headed faunus. She smiled at the big one as she felt the familiar warm sensation of blood wet her fist. The hot headed one silently fell to his knees as Frost pulled the object she had slammed into his chest from his body, letting his lifeless body slump to the floor.

The remaining three thugs took a step back as they took in what they had just witnessed. Frost had conjured a large spike of ice that looked like a short sword from midair before she slammed it into the chest of their dead comrade. Frost winked at the big one before closing her left hand and summoning another ice sword.

"You couldn't have known this. But six years ago the White Fang murdered my father in front of me. They did this before forcing me to watch them gang rape my mother. After they had had their fun with her they beat her to death." Frost said with a twisted smile on her face. "You see, my semblance had not awoken before that night. But the amount of emotions I felt while being forced to witness the White Fang do these things to my family awakened my powers. Now either you three can leave this bar alive or you can make me pay for killing your friend." Frost finished, twirling the ice sword in her right hand to face blade upwards.

The two smaller faunus looked at the bigger one for a few seconds. He was clearly shaken up at the speed that Frost used to easily kill one of his men. He quickly pulled a large combat knife from its sheath with the other two thugs drawing their weapons. The three of them slowly began to encircle Frost with the larger one standing directly in front of her.

"Well shit." Frost said with a tiny chuckle. "Yang's going to be pissed off about the amount of blood that I'm about to get on her floor." She continued before lunging to her left towards one of the smaller faunus.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I know it's been quite some time since I last updated this story. Work went from busy to insane in the course of a day or so. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and are looking forward to more chapters coming up very soon.**

* * *

 **VI**

Ember Erinyes walked briskly down the street towards Yang's bar with a pair of headphones in her ears. The young faunus bobbed her head to the sound of her music. She stood at around five foot two with long red hair and black cat ears with red tips on top of her head. She had sparkling lavender eyes that shown like gemstones. She had an athletic body but was also curvy in the hips due to her shorter stance than her friends.

She was in her own little world and had completely didn't notice that the street she was on was empty of people. The only thing on her mind was seeing her friends and her lover, Gwyn. She and Gwyn had been dating for a little over a year at this point and every moment they were able to spend together felt like a lifetime. She had also grown quite fond of his teammates and the rest of the members of the VLA with her most recent, and quickest growing, friendship being that of hers and Frost's.

As Ember approached Yang's bar she noticed that there was something off about the place. She could sense that there was danger nearby and grew uneasy as she turned her music off and slipped the headphones back into her pocket. She slowly pushed the door open and her jaw instantly dropped at the sight she saw.

Inside the bar stood Frost with two ice swords rammed into the gut of a male faunus. She held him high above her before throwing him to the side and falling to her knees. Around her laid the dismembered and bloodied bodies of other faunus. Frost gently began to sob before allowing her swords to disappear. She looked up at Ember and gently smiled as tears began to roll down her face.

"Hey, beautiful." Frost said as she whipped away the tears. "If I knew you were coming I would have cleaned up the place a little better." She continued.

"Frost…what the hell? Why are you crying? What happened?" Ember quickly spat out the questions as she ran to her friend's side.

"These assholes were trying to get a little rough, that's all." Frost said with a nervous smile. "I'm crying because I let them get to me. I should have just roughed them up a little bit but I think I went a little too far. Now I have to get this place cleaned up a bit before Yang and the others come up." Frost said before standing and approaching the bar where she poured herself a drink.

Frost slowly sipped at the alcohol as she took in the sight of the bloody scene in the middle of the bar. She cursed silently under her breath at the sight of her work. It had been almost a year since she last let her temper get ahold of her like this. Winter had made sure that Frost had gone to the best mental health experts in all of Atlas just so she wouldn't snap like this anymore. And yet it only took a group of would be criminals to push her over the edge like this.

As Frost thought about what she had just done, the sound of the others approaching the door to the main level of the bar broke the silence between her and Ember. She quickly finished her drink before stepping in front of the door to the basement. As she did this, Yang opened the door and almost jumped out of her skin at the sight of the beautiful faunus standing directly in front of her.

"Frost? What are you doing? You about gave me a damn heart attack!" Exclaimed Yang as she put her right hand to her chest and took a step back.

"Before you come in, you should know something." Frost replied with a frown before looking over her shoulder.

"What? Did you break another glass? I told you they can be replaced…" Yang trailed off as she saw the bodies on the floor and blood spilled all around them. "What the fuck, Frost?" She asked with shock in her eyes before pushing past Frost and into the bar.

"They claimed to be members of a new White Fang group. They wanted to rob us and possibly do more. I ensured that Eira would be safe by telling her to hide and to not come out." Frost said calmly with a cold tone.

As Yang and Frost talked, the rest of the group entered the bar from the basement. As Weiss rolled into the room she gasped at the sight of the bodies and instantly glared at Frost.

"Where is my daughter?" Weiss asked with a sour tone. "Eira? Where are you?" She continued without letting Frost answer.

Eira quickly came out of hiding with Zwei at her heels. She ran up to Weiss and threw her arms around her neck before smiling gently.

"Don't worry." Eira said quickly, not allowing Weiss to speak. "Frost protected us. They forced their way into the bar and she protected me. Please don't be mad at her." She continued with a smile directed to Frost.

Weiss began to protest as she continued to glare at Frost but instead allowed herself to smile slightly. She nodded in approval before embracing her adopted daughter tightly and running her fingers through her long white hair.

As Weiss, Frost, and Eira talked amongst themselves, Gwyn ran up to Ember who was standing off to the side. He quickly embraced her and looked down into her eyes with a warm smile on his face.

"Were you in here during all this? Are you hurt?" He asked her as he started to look her over to ensure she wasn't injured.

"No, not at all." Ember replied. "I got here right at the end of it all. I've never seen Frost so worked up before. They really must have pissed her off to get her to act so violently." Ember continued as she thought about how she had never seen her friend do such a thing.

Gwyn smiled at Ember's response as he held her close to him. Just the thought of something happening to her made his heart almost stop. Even though they had only been together a short amount of time he still cared more about her than anything in the world and thus would do anything for her. As Gwyn embraced Ember, Weiss cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"I'm so glad everyone but the three dead bodies in the floor are okay." She said sarcastically. "But we really need to discuss our next plan of action. If what Eira was saying is true then some serious shit is about to hit the fan." Weiss continued with a worried look at the rest of the group.

Frost tilted her head in response before giving Yang a worried look. Yang sighed gently before putting her glass on the bar to signal Frost to pour more drinks. Frost had an idea in her head that everyone was going to need a drink to make it through the discussion that was about to happen. As she handed Yang a refilled glass she hopped onto the counter and sat down, curious of what was about to be said. Yang sighed again and closed her eyes before speaking.

"First order of business is this." She started. "We need to dispose of these bodies and clean up my bar. Frost, since you killed these poor bastards that means you are responsible for getting rid of their corpses. Secondly, we need to call Jaune. He is going to want to be here for this." She continued with a weak smile.

"And thirdly?" Frost questioned her friend.

"We need a plan." Yang responded silently. "Because if what Eira said is true then the visions she received from Amber means that Roland is coming back to Vale. And I am sure I speak for us all when I say that I hope that it doesn't come to that." Yang finished.

As the members of the VLA talked in Yang's bar, high above the city inside an Atlas airship sat Roland and the rest of Team CRME as they were being briefed via video call with General Ironwood. Roland, Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury had only returned from their separate missions in Mistral twelve hours prior to this meeting and the effects of travel, along with battle, were showing in them.

"Egle, your assassination of Team SHDW was flawless in every sense of the word. I've put in a good word in Atlas with Commander Schnee to have you receive a medal as soon as you can." General Ironwood praised Roland with a smile as he read over the report that Roland transferred to him. "Captain Fall, I will expect you and your team to get plenty of rest over the next couple days before beginning training for your next mission." Ironwood continued as he shifted through some more documents.

"Yes, sir." Cinder nodded with respect before sitting up straight. "Sir, may we know the name of our next mission or any other details?" She asked curiously.

"For now all you may know is that the mission is codenamed as _Operation Foxhound_. This will be a search and destroy mission. We will be finally be striking the VLA at its heart. I will prep you four in forty-eight hours. Dismissed." Ironwood said before ending the video call.

The members of Team CRME sat in silence for a few moments as the each began to feel the effects of their exhaustion. Each of them turned to Cinder who allowed an evil grin to creek across her face.

"You heard the man, team. You three get some rest and enjoy your time off." Cinder ordered her team.

"And what will you be doing, boss?" Mercury asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"I think I'll get myself a drink. There's a pretty nice bar nearby that I've just been dying to visit. Roland, would you like to join me to celebrate your success?" Cinder asked as she turned to Roland.

"Yes, ma'am. I would love that." Roland said with a sly smirk.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! In this long overdue update to Nevermore's Wrath we travel to Atlas where Qrow and Winter have some screen time. I know that a lot of people don't like ships but the interactions between Qrow and Winter in Volume 3 reminded me of two ex's being forced to work together, or at least two people who had a fling that ended badly. Those interactions in the actual show is what gave me the idea of having these two share a rocky relationship in my AU. Also in this chapter we see that the plans to end the war are starting to be formed. I hope you guys enjoy and as always please let me know what you think. Work has finally started to slow down so expect more chapters to be released at a quicker pace!**

* * *

 **VII**

Qrow Branwen yawned gently as he stretched tiredly. The room he laid in was dimly lit and was cool from the decorative ceiling fan that ran high above him. He slowly shifted his weight so not to wake the woman who laid next to him as he rose from the bed to make his way to the restroom. As he prepared to stand he felt a delicate kiss on his left shoulder before being pulled backwards onto the bare chest of his lover. He smirked and kissed the woman's right hand before clearing his throat to speak.

"You know it's not smart to grab a highly trained Huntsman from behind right, Ice Queen?" He said playfully, smiling wider as the arms around him shifted up to his neck before squeezing tightly.

"You call me 'Ice Queen' one more time and I'll show you just how foolish it is to test the anger of a Schnee, old man." Replied Winter with a slight tinge of frustration before playfully pushing Qrow away from her.

Qrow stumbled off of the bed and across the room to where his pants laid across the back of a chair. He quickly slid them on and looked back at Winter. She kneeled on her bed with one hand holding a blanket against her naked body while she brushed her long white hair out of her face with the other hand. He couldn't help but smile at the beauty of the young woman with whom he had shared an on and off affair with for the past couple years.

It had been dangerous hiding their affair from the governments of both sides of the brutal war that had been raging for the past five years. However with Winter being the acting leader of Atlas' council while General Ironwood was away and Qrow serving as Mistral's representative to Atlas since shortly after the start of the purge, it was fairly easy for the two of them to find time to be alone together.

Shortly after the Atlas attack on Vale and Beacon, Qrow managed to find his nieces in the forest near the school and led them to safety along with the other survivors. It was then that he had noticed the state of distress that Ruby was in. The usual cheerful air that the young girl gave off had been dissolved with that of sorrow and pain. Ruby had all but shut down after losing her sight in her right eye and it seemed that she would never recover. After several serious discussions with Yang, Qrow took Ruby to Mistral where a brilliant robotics expert by the name of Doctor Hale owed him a favor. This led to Ruby receiving her new eye along with a safe haven for her to grow and train.

Qrow silently entered the bathroom connected to Winter's bedroom and spoke loud enough for her to hear him.

"So, this big peace summit going on this week. Any chance that Atlas is going to be withdrawing their forces?" He asked, a question he already knew the answer to.

"Hardly." Winter scoffed with an irritated tone at the thought of the peace summits. "The best we are going to be able to do as long as Ironwood is in charge of our military is get a temporary cease fire in Mistral." She continued as she slid out of the bed to get dressed.

"And Vale? No chance of a full withdraw?" Qrow continued with his questions as he washed his hands.

"Ironwood will most likely never pullout of Vale without a gun to the back of his head." Winter replied with a shake of her head. "The council members that support an end to the war have all decided to not approve any invasion of Vacuo, so that's good." She continued before tying her hair into its usual bun.

"Yeah, because the best thing for Atlas right now is to invade a third kingdom." Qrow replied sarcastically. "I doubt even Ironwood is crazy enough to spread his forces that thinly. The VLA is giving him enough problems in Vale that he has most likely been forced to pull his best forces from the front in Mistral. Not to mention the rumors of an armed rebellion here in Atlas." He finished before exiting the bathroom and walking over to Winter's small bar to pour himself a drink.

Winter strolled over to where her lover was standing and poured herself a drink as well before giving him a worried look. Her eyes gleamed with concern as she silently sipped at the liquor in her glass. After a few moments of silence she walked into the next room, motioning Qrow to follow her.

"Uh oh, I know that look. What's on your mind?" Qrow questioned her before following her into her study.

Once inside, Qrow closed the door and took a seat in one of Winter's plush chairs. He swirled the alcohol in his glass gently before sipping at it some more. The look that Winter had given him was still fresh in his mind and it was slowly eating away at his mind. After a few more moments of silence, Winter sighed deeply before fishing out a large envelope with papers poking out of it.

"This came across my desk from General Ironwood a few days ago. Inside is a report about a special operations team named Team CRME's involvement in a small Mistral city." Winter said with a tinge of growing agitation.

"Oh yeah? What's this got to do with anything? Everyone's heard of CRME and their dirty operations." Qrow replied as he took the file. "Who did they kill this time?" He questioned.

"Cut the shit, Qrow." Winter snapped as she darted her eyes up at her partner. "Inside that report is a detailed account of Roland Egle's battle with one Team SHDW while in Mistral. I read it several times and only three of the four team members were confirmed to have been killed. But imagine my shock when one of my spies in Mistral reports to me that one Silver Morrigan of Team SHDW has been listed as killed in action by the Mistral military." Winter continued angrily.

"Whoa now, just let me explain this." Qrow started as he put his glass down and leaned forward in his seat.

"You better explain quickly, Qrow. Because I know that you and Silver had a close bond. Not to mention his adopted sister is a high value target in the VL-fucking-A!" Winter's voice began to rise as she stood from her chair quickly.

Qrow sat in silence for a few seconds as he tried to piece together an explanation that would be accepted by the young woman across from him. He sighed softly before beginning to speak.

"It was the kid's idea. He wanted Mistral to fake his death and to retire him from service to allow him to travel to Vale. Once there he plans to join with the VLA and hopefully kill Roland and the rest of his team. I agreed to it simply because the kid seemed like he wouldn't take anything other than approval for this mission as an answer. And I also saw it as a chance to get Ruby back to Vale safely." Qrow admitted cautiously.

The air in Winter's study instantly grew stuffier as the young woman's rage reached an apex. She glared deeply at Qrow before slamming her fists on her desk and sitting in her chair.

"You've got to be joking. Please, tell me you're joking." Winter said with a trembling voice.

"Nope." Qrow replied before taking another sip of his drink.

"Do you realize what will happen once Roland catches wind of Silver fucking Morrigan _and_ Ruby Rose on his tail?" Winter growled impatiently.

"I do." Qrow answered.

"And what makes you think it's a good idea to send them to Vale? Roland is a fucking lunatic!" Winter said with a fire in her eyes. "Once he even suspects them coming to Vale he will hunt down every single person that they love and kill them just to bait them!" She continued.

"I do realize this, Winter." Qrow raised his voice as he glared at Winter. "One of those people just happens to be the daughter of my sister. But damnit something has to be done about him!" He continued.

"And another one of those people just so happens to be my sister!" Winter yelled fiercely as she slammed her right hand on her desk.

"I know, sweetheart." Qrow answered gently, trying to ease the woman's rage. "But if anyone can help the VLA stop Team CRME, it'd be Silver and Ruby." He said before finishing his drink.

"Qrow, you don't get it. Weiss adopted Roland Egle's little sister as her daughter." Winter said worriedly. "He's going to lose his mind once he finds out that not only is his sister alive, but she is with his enemy. And to add onto it he may find out fairly soon that two highly skilled fighters are on their way to Vale. Both of which he has done battle with in the past." She finished before rubbing her temples.

Qrow sat in silence as he processed what he had just heard. He had heard that Weiss had adopted an orphan as her daughter but he had no idea who the girl actually was.

"Winter, why is Ironwood pulling Team CRME from the front lines and redeploying them in Vale?" Qrow questioned with a sudden sense of dread overcoming him.

"The obvious answer would be to hunt the VLA down." Winter replied.

"Exactly!" Qrow replied. "Team CRME is Atlas' best unit. But the one thing that makes them more dangerous than any other team is Roland. He's unstable, a killing machine. If he is told that his sister is in the hands of the VLA then he will stop at nothing to destroy them." He continued.

"And as long as Ironwood is feeding Roland that barren serum then he will be basically an attack dog." Winter said as she began to piece together what Qrow was getting at.

"Exactly. The VLA doesn't need to kill Roland. They need to kill Ironwood and the other three members of Roland's team. Without them then Roland won't be under the control of Ironwood." Qrow said with excitement.

"Not only that but Ironwood's death would mean an end to the war and the end of production for his mind altering experiments on barrens!" Winter replied, sharing Qrow's excitement.

Qrow stood quickly and fished for his scroll with a grin on his face. He winked gently at Winter before flipping through the contacts in the device. After a few moments he laughed to himself before looking up from the scroll to Winter.

"How often do you get in contact with your agent in Vale?" He asked her.

"Once a week if I can. She's posing as a double agent for Ironwood so it's sometimes hard to get communication to her. Why?" Winter asked.

"Because she's going to be our ace in the hole, that's why." He replied before scooping his glass up to exit the room and pour himself some more.

"If Team CRME is going to be sent to Vale to kill the VLA then Ironwood's first task is to get one of them in contact with the very person he thinks is his spy inside the VLA." Winter said as she followed Qrow closely into the next room.

"Yep." Qrow said as he poured more alcohol into his glass. "And I just sent a message to a friend in Vale who owes me a favor. His task is to get in contact with your agent and to deliver a message to Yang. All we have to do is to cause enough damage to the Atlas forces in Vale that James Ironwood himself will be so pissed off at his top squad failing to suppress the VLA and he will travel there personally." He continued before pouring Winter a glass as well.

"And once he goes to Vale then the VLA can set up an ambush and take him out." Winter said as she took the glass in her hand with a smile.

"Exactly. All we need to do is to hope that my contact in Vale can provide the VLA with enough support that Ironwood will have no choice but to redeploy troops into the area." Qrow replied before tapping his glass against Winter's.

"But wait, what about Silver and Ruby?" Questioned Winter with a sudden worried tone.

"Silver is due to contact me in three hours." Replied Qrow. "Once he does I'll fill him in with some details." He continued.

"Three hours?" Winter asked with a raise of an eyebrow. "The first meeting for the peace summit isn't until tomorrow morning. Of course it'd be rude not to show our esteemed guest around Atlas before such a historical undertaking. But what to do for the next three hours?" She questioned Qrow with a sly grin before placing her drink back onto the bar and turning to walk towards her bed, letting her hair down and loosening her clothing as she did so.

Qrow stood silently for a few moments before understanding the hint that Winter had given him. He finished his drink quickly before following her back to the bed, unbuckling his pants as he approached her.


	9. Chapter 8

**VIII**

Silver sat quietly against a stump on the edge of his and Ruby's camp as he waited for the sun to come up. It had been four hours since he relieved Ruby of her turn at night watch and he was starting to grow restless. Over the past few days they had made good time traveling on foot and were within only a few miles of their scheduled meeting point with one of Qrow's contacts. Once at the meeting point they would be taken onto a fishing boat that would bring them within a mile of New Vale, where they would board a small rowboat and sneak their way into the city's port district. The traveling so far had been fairly calm with little to no Grimm activity as they made their way to the coast. However, Silver could not shake the feeling that their luck was slowly beginning to run out. With Mistral being a war torn kingdom, Grimm attacks had become a daily occurrence in many of the smaller outlining towns and villages the further one got from the larger cities. Of course the most the two companions had seen of the monsters was a lone Beowolf here or there and the occasional wondering Ursa.

After a few minutes of waiting in silence, Silver stood and collected Chimera, switching it to its assault rifle mode before sliding a magazine into its receiver. The young faunus was in the process of gathering the rest of his belongings to go wake Ruby when he heard some rustling in the bushes behind him. He spun around, dropped to one knee, and aimed his rifle at the bush. He prepared for the possibility of a Grimm lunging from it. Instead, however, Ruby walked calmly out of the bush. Silver sighed deeply as he lowered Chimera and shook his head slowly.

"You know I almost shot you in the face, right?" Silver questioned Ruby with an annoyed tone.

The young woman ignored Silver's question as she walked past him and plopped down on a nearby stump. She looked up at the sky with her large silver eyes. She sat like this for a few moments before glancing over to Silver and tilting her head.

"You know what I've been wondering for a while?" Ruby asked curiously.

"No…what?" Replied Silver, his tone still slightly annoyed.

"Most Faunus have only one animalistic trait, correct?" Ruby continued.

"Yeah, what of it?" Silver answered, seeing where this conversation was about to go.

"How come you, your sister, and most of her team all have more than one trait?" She asked, turning to face Silver before she leaned back on the stump.

Silver stood silently as he thought of the best way to answer the young woman's question. It was a question he had been asked many times before, and she was not wrong to ask it. Most Faunus did indeed only have one animal trait and it was odd to see a Faunus with multiple.

"It's a mutation." Silver finally answered after a few more moments of silence. "Some believe it's just a simple genetic mutation that a very small percentage of Faunus have. Amber, Yamabuki, and Rose all have tails and ears. I have ears, claws, and cat like eyes." He continued, pointing up at his ears with a clawed finger.

"A mutation?" Ruby asked as she looked Silver over slowly with an intrigued sparkle in her human eye.

"Yep, a mutation." Silver replied with a slight shrug. "I believe the last time a study was done about it they found that not even one percent of all of us have it. It just so happens to be that you've met four Faunus with that mutation." He finished before approaching the log that Ruby sat on.

Ruby looked away towards their camp silently, almost ignoring the large Faunus that approached her. Silver couldn't help but be amazed at the young woman's beauty as she sat reflectively before him. Qrow had mentioned Ruby a few times over the years but he always talked of her like she was still the young girl that she was before the war. However, the woman that sat before Silver was anything but a little girl. She fit her athletically slim figure like a glove.

Her black hair that usually sat comfortably on her shoulders danced in the wind gracefully before resting in front of her robotic eye. Ruby brushed her hair back out of her face to expose the scars that covered the area around her right eye. After a few moments of staring at their camp she shot a glance at Silver, her robotic eye flickering as the sun reflected off of its lens.

"It still hurts sometimes." Ruby said before placing her right hand over her eye. "In fact, it keeps me up some nights. Even after all these years I still get this intense throbbing pain in the area around it as if the shrapnel was still lodged in there. Do you still feel pain from your injuries?" She questioned Silver, looking at him with sadness in her gaze.

"Every moment of my life." Silver replied, rubbing his false arm.

A moment or two passed in awkward silence between the two before Silver cleared his throat to talk.

"I don't know the full extent as to why you decided to leave Vale. Hell, I don't fully understand the reasoning in going back. But, if it means enough to you that you'd get that old bird of an uncle of yours to pull a favor card with me…" Silver trailed off, trying to think of something witty to say.

Right as he opened his mouth to continue, the trees across from the pair started to rustle and move violently. Silver spun with his weapon raised, ready to engage whatever was causing the large trees to rustle. Ruby leapt up from her seat, quickly transforming her Crescent Rose II into its mode. Silver edged closer to the young woman before whispering gently.

"Can your eye see anything?" He asked, glancing at his companion.

Ruby closed her human eye, allowing her robotic eye to zoom its vision into the area of the movement. After a few seconds she titled her head in confusion and nodded.

"It's a large Grimm. However, I've never seen one like it before." She reported to Silver.

"Oh? Describe it. It's important that you describe what it looks like." Silver replied nervously.

"It's reptilian in nature. Other than that it's hard to really describe what it looks like." Ruby said as she began to mirror Silver's nervous body language. "And it is looking right at us." She continued.

Silver quickly grabbed Ruby's arm and began to pull her to start running, a look of fear flashing across his otherwise calm face.

"We have to move, now." Silver said as he pulled at her arm harder and broke into a brisk jog to allow Ruby to catch up to him.

"Why? What is it?" Ruby asked as she caught up to Silver quickly.

"A Basilisk. It's a rare Grimm that even the most experienced teams of Huntsmen rather not face." Silver replied, looking over his shoulder as his fear deepened.

A moment later the large Grimm crashed into the clearing, knocking over trees as if they were a pile of toothpicks. The beast stood fifteen feet high and around twenty feet long. It had long black spines on its back, a whip like tail, and razor sharp claws at the end of long legs. It let out a high pitched roar and instantly gave chase after the pair. Despite its large size the creature was fairly fast and within a matter of seconds it was close enough to lash out after Ruby and Silver.

Ruby barely managed to leap over an incoming swipe when the Basilisk snapped its sharp teeth at her. The Grimm came alarmingly close but Silver appeared almost as a blur in midair to deliver a punishing kick to snout of the beast. He landed gracefully before unloading an entire magazine worth of bullets from his weapon into the armored hide, stunning the creature. This gave the pair enough time to get a little more distance between them and their pursuer, which they used as an opportunity to kick their speed into high gear.

After a few minutes of running they came to a small beach with a pier whose condition was so poor that it seemed as if the whole thing would fall into the sea if even a leaf dared land on it. Silver turned to face the area in which the Basilisk was still before loading a fresh magazine into his rile. He grinned playfully before glancing at Ruby.

"I guess we have no choice but to fight. I got to say, there is no guarantee that we will survive this. However, if we do…" He paused for a moment as he thought about something to say in order to reassure his companion. "If we survive this I'll take you out for a nice dinner."

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep. I would have guessed you'd know that by now." Ruby replied with a wolfish grin.

Silver could feel his blood begin to boil as the excitement over the quickly approaching battle filled him. He nodded before yanking the charging handle back on his rifle and gave Ruby a wink.

"And you should know just from knowing my sister that you should never challenge a Morrigan." Silver replied as the Basilisk slowly approached the pier. "And this son of a bitch is about to learn that lesson the hard way." He continued with a mean grin and his cat ears pressed back.


	10. Chapter 9

**IX**

The large Grimm slowly paced back and forth just twenty meters ahead of Ruby and Silver. Black ooze dripped from its mouth and bubbled on the ground. Its body pulsated as large muscles twitched beneath the skin, waiting to lunge towards its prey. After a few moments, the beast lowered its head and let out a loud hiss as it bared its large teeth.

Across the way from the Basilisk, Silver and Ruby stood at the ready to do battle. Silver's trigger finger twitched as he awaited his chance to open fire. Meanwhile, Ruby stood at the ready to lunge forward with her scythe. Once the Grimm hissed at the pair, Silver grinned and hissed back. Ruby glanced at her partner with a shocked expression, stunned that he would challenge the creature in such a way.

"Do you think it's smart to piss it off more?" Ruby asked.

Silver tilted his head to the side, not taking his eyes off the Grimm, and chuckled a little.

"I don't think it could hurt. The more frustrated it becomes then the more enraged it becomes. The more enraged it becomes then the better chances of it making a mistake. You wouldn't understand, it's an animal thing." He replied jokingly.

The Basilisk's upper lip became to tremble violently as anger flowed through it due to Silver's challenge. It roared loudly as it stamped its front feet, showing no fear of the young faunus. Silver however, simply responded with a loud hiss and snapped his rifle up to his shoulder before unloading a burst into the creature's face. The rounds tore into the snout of the reptilian like Grimm, causing it to shake its head violently from the pain. Afterwards it lunged forward, making a beeline straight for Silver.

"Ruby, break left and dash in for a quick strike while it's focused on me!" Silver commanded quickly as he shot two more bursts into the charging monster.

Ruby dashed quickly to the side of the beast before kicking her semblance into gear and speed forward, slashing her scythe into the armored hide of her target. She cursed under her breath as she saw that her blade only left shallow wounds. She landed gracefully before slamming the blade of Crescent Rose II into the ground to launch a laser attack. She held down the trigger to charge her shot but before she had enough time she was knocked backwards by the Basilisk's tail.

Silver cursed aloud as he saw Ruby fly through the air, just inches off of the ground. Within a blink of an eye he dashed to her position, her limp body slamming into his chest and knocking them both to the ground. As he was checking her over to ensure her aura was not broken, Ruby sat up and winched.

"Oof, he packs a hell of a punch." She growled through gritted teeth. "My scythe only made small wounds and I'll need more time to launch an attack from Crescent Rose's laser shot." She continued as she faced Silver, who gave her a sly grin.

"Do you think you can distract it long enough for me to slow him down for you? It'll be risky but if we pull it off you'll have plenty of time to land a good shot." Silver replied, helping Ruby up as the Basilisk squared itself with the pair to charge again.

"Sure, but a Grimm that size will need to be hit in the head for an instant kill. Otherwise I'll have to hit it several times." Ruby answered before dusting her cape off.

"Anyone ever tell you that your weapon is highly impractical?" The young faunus asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

Ruby quickly turned to Silver and stamped her foot down with frustration. She raised a finger at her partner with a scowl before replying.

"Firstly, it's for long range engagements. Secondly, that's a lot of lip coming from the guy who uses a glorified spear that turns into an assault rifle." She replied with a smirk.

"Oh?" Silver raised an eyebrow as he shifted his gaze from his partner to the lumbering beast. "Well I sure hope you've got enough venom in you for him as much as you do for me, because we're going to need it."

After a brief explanation of his plan, Silver and Ruby rushed into action. Silver aligned himself slightly behind Ruby as she knelt down to get ready for the signal to start. The Basilisk's lip quivered with rage as it starred down its challengers. The massive Grimm let out a loud roar before charging the pair. As soon as it jolted forward, Silver tapped Ruby's shoulder and she kicked her semblance into overdrive. As she darted forward, leaving petals in her wake, Silver vanished from sight before running forward as well.

Ruby sped towards the beast and as she got closer she started to zigzag. When she was close enough she started to lash out with her scythe, cutting shallow gashes into the sides and arms of the Basilisk. The beast roared with frustration from the small wounds, distracted by the small annoyance just enough to not notice what Silver was doing. With every cut Ruby made, Silver gracefully made the cuts slightly larger by striking the Grimm with his war scythe. While Ruby sped around the beast, Silver was on keeping up with her as best he could by keeping invisible and running as fast as he could while trying to not draw attention to himself. With each cut his Chimera's venom entered the wounds and quickly began to take its toll.

When Silver designed his weapon he made it with the intentions of it being an extremely effective tool for killing Grimm. The main body of the war scythe was fitted with a hollowed out section that could be outfitted with a bottle of customized poison. The mixture was a deadly combination of Dust, poisonous fungus, and venom from several different insects and snakes. The mix could then be applied to the blade by squeezing a leaver near the base of the blade which fed to a short hose which applied the mix via a spray. The poison itself would first cause a burning sensation at the area of the wound. Within seconds it would then cause confusion, blurred vision, and hallucinations. In high doses it would eventually cause the brain of the victim to swell to the point of death.

The Basilisk started to stumble as the poison began to take effect. However, the beast slowly began to grow more enraged as the confusion set in. Just as Ruby dashed towards the beast, it raised up on its hind legs and slammed down into the ground with all its might. Ruby was unable to stop herself from being caught in the shockwave and flying debris and thus was thrown backwards violently. She flew through the air so quickly that Silver, who was just barely outside of the range of the attack, couldn't catch her in time before she slammed into a tree. Her Aura shattered around her like a vase falling from a shelf before her limp body fell to the ground. Silver reemerged from his semblance as he ran to Ruby's side. She was unconscious and barely breathing but was somehow alive without any major injuries. He clenched his fists as he held the barely alive young woman in his arms, cursing to himself as the Grimm approached the duo. As the Basilisk approached them, shaking its head from the poison that ran through its veins, Silver started to give up hope and wondered if there was any hope of besting such a powerful and legendary Grimm.

As the Basilisk made what seemed like it would be its last charge against the pair, a sudden turn in the tide of battle took place. Almost out of thin air a decently sized spiked iron ball on a chain wrapped around the creature's neck. As soon as the chain with taut, an unseen force slammed the chain downward to force the head of the Basilisk towards the ground. Almost immediately, a large slab of rock rose quickly from the ground and slammed into the chin of the beast. The impact was so rough that Silver could make out a ripple move through the facial tissues of the Basilisk.

The large Grimm flipped head over heels onto its back, exposing the weaker underside of the creature. Before Silver could react with an attack of his own he noticed the chained weapon retracted from around the creature's neck as a stone ramp suddenly rise from the ground just moments before a mysterious figure came sliding down it on a box shield. The figure hit the end of the ramp and soured high above the Basilisk before spinning itself to face downward. Out of nowhere the figure hurtled the chained weapon, this time one in each hand, down into the ground on each side of the Basilisk. The shadowy figure kicked away from the shield and sped downward, glowing dark green as it sped through the air, into the chest of the large Grimm. The human missile slammed into the Basilisk with so much force that debris from the surrounding ground was kicked up in a large cloud. A loud roar echoed out from the cloud of dust moments before a bright flash of dark green light shown its body. The creature screamed out in pain as its entire body grew engulfed in a mysterious fire, just to grow silent as its life quickly ended. Silver's mouth hung open in disbelief at what he just saw. As the crackling carcass of the Basilisk melted away due to the green fire, the mysterious figure walked out into the open towards Silver and Ruby. As the shadow approached him, Silver felt his adrenaline levels fall sharply before collapsing from exhaustion.

Several hours later, Silver awoke to the gentle sway of a boat and the smell of the sea. It was night by the time he awoke from his post battle sleep and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness around him. He quickly noticed a gentle green light coming from the corner of the fishing vessel. He noticed that Ruby sat next to the light, her head resting gently on the shoulder of the shadowy figure. The figure wore a simple gray hooded tunic, the hood of which covered most of its face, and held a glowing green orb of fire in between its hands.

As Silver stirred to get a better look at the pair he felt a heavy hand clasp his shoulder. He quickly spun around to see an oddly familiar looking young man standing next to where Silver was resting. The young man was tall, well built, and had wavy black hair and red eyes. The man raised a finger up to his lips as a gesture to tell Silver to remain silent before pointing at the pair at the corner of the boat. As Silver paid closer attention to the figure and Ruby, he noticed that soft singing came from the mysterious figure. Silver tried to make out the lyrics of the gentle song but noticed it was in a language he did not understand.

"What is this song?" Silver asked the man who stood with him, only to receive a silent shrug.

"Don't fret about Robin." Silver jumped as a soft voice of a woman came from the hooded figure. "He's a mute so don't expect to hold much of a conversation with him." The figure continued before raising its head to allow the hood to slip from her head.

The shadowy figure was a beautiful young woman who couldn't had been more than twenty-five years old. Her skin was a slight tan in color while her hair was a pure silvery white and her eyes were a deep golden. She gave Silver a confident smile before snuffing out the green flame that floated between her hands.

"Hello, Silver. It's nice to finally meet you." The figure said to the young faunus.

"I'm…sorry. It appears you know me but I don't know who you are." Silver replied.

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Erika. Erika Drake. Robin, the young man behind you, and myself are members of the Crimson Talon Corps." The young woman answered with a nod to the man, Robin, who stood behind Silver.

"Crimson Talon Corps?" Silver's eyes widened with excitement at the words. "You mean to tell me that you two are a part of the Atlas black ops unit that went rogue shortly before the war?" He asked, barely able to contain himself.

"Yes, yes. Try to keep your voice down, Silver. Ruby has to get her rest for the coming operation." Erika said with a small pat on Ruby's head.

Silver nodded at his young partner before giving Erika a serious glare.

"Is she hurt?" He asked with slight anger in his voice.

"Not at all. She's just tired from the fight. You two are lucky we came along when we did." The woman replied.

"Yeah, about that. How the hell did you two manage to kill that Basilisk so quickly?" Silver asked, embarrassed that he had to be rescued.

"It wasn't a big deal. Wasn't the first Basilisk we've fought." Erika shrugged proudly before smirking at Silver.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Well I am of course grateful for the backup. However, I should probably report to Qrow that you got us." He continued as he pulled out his scroll.

"No need." Erika waved her hand at Silver. "I gave Jay a call as soon as we got on the boat. He's probably talking to his old man as we speak about our little audible to his plan." She said softly.

"Jay?" Silver asked with a confused tilt of his head.

Erika chuckled gently as she realized she had gotten ahead of herself before gently moving Ruby onto her side so she could stand. Afterwards she strode over to Robin and leaned onto her companion.

"Jay is our leader and Robin's twin brother. Jay and Robin Branwen are their full names." She said with a point of her thumb.

"Branwen!?" Came a shocked shout from Ruby as her eyes snapped open.

Erika chuckled as Ruby awoke from her slumber at the most convenient of times. Ruby quickly snapped to Robin's side and looked the young man over closely before nodding proudly.

"He…looks just like a tall, young version of my uncle." She said while narrowing her eyes at the mute man who just smiled awkwardly at her.

"Well, he is his son. Jay and Robin are your cousins, Ruby." Erika laughed a little harder this time at the shocked look on Ruby's face. "Please, forgive me for my laughter. It's just I didn't think the subject of Ruby being related to Jay and Robin would be this entertaining." She continued.

"Wow! I can't believe Uncle Qrow actually had any kids!" Ruby said with excitement as she hugged Robin tightly. "I can't wait to tell Yang all about this!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sure she's close to finding out for herself soon enough. Jay is due to meet one of the resistance's spies tonight at your sister's bar." Erika shrugged again as she found her seat again. "But we can talk about this more in due time. We have to go over the mission before we get to Vale. So, any questions before we get started?" She asked the pair with a smile.

"I have one." Silver replied with a slight raise of his robotic hand. "Your name, Erika. I've only heard of one other name to be as strange as yours." He tilted his head again.

"Oh, the color thing? Well that's simple, Silver. My name is not color based because, like Roland Egle, I am a Dust Eater." She answered with a sly grin. "In fact I doubt that Nina nor Roland know that there is another surviving member of our old clan." Erika continued with a wink.

"You're a Dust Eater?" Ruby said with an astonished gaze at the young woman. To which Erika nodded proudly.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm actually related to the Egle siblings. And I would guess that it's safe to assume that neither one of my cousins know the hell that is coming for Roland." Erika replied, her sly grin turning cruel as she clinched her fist so tightly that a green flame appeared around it.


	11. Chapter 10

**X**

"So…tell me about Qrow's plan." Silver asked Erika quietly.

The young woman who sat across from Silver and Ruby hadn't told the duo much about herself or why she, an outsider like Roland, was fighting for their cause. She was tall, standing at about six foot, and had a curvy frame which Silver could make out even through her faded crimson hooded poncho. Her silver hair was in neat locks and pulled back with a ribbon tying the locks in place. After a few moments of awkward silence, she yawned before speaking.

"Basically he wants you, along with your soon to be new buddies in the VLA, to cause enough mayhem that James Ironwood himself will travel to New Vale to put you all down. After which you are to kill the bastard, bringing a swift end to this stalemate of a war." She concluded with another yawn.

"You don't seem too happy with that plan." Ruby stated in a very matter of fact tone.

"Not one bit. We in the CTC know Ironwood very well and so I'm going to go ahead and be very forthright with you; it won't work." Erika responded, followed by another yawn.

"Then what do you propose?" Silver asked, growing impatient with the young woman's yawns.

For a brief moment, Erika sat in silence before shrugging and turning to Robin. The mute young man nodded at his friend as if he could read her mind and was giving her his approval.

"We show the people who he really is." She stated confidently.

"Explain." Silver growled, growing more annoyed.

"I thought you'd never ask, kitty." Erika replied, giggling with Ruby as Silver's face grew red as he tried to suppress his anger. "There's a special black Dust crystal that is extremely rare. This crystal is so violently unstable that if it was to break it'd cause an explosion large enough to destroy a city block." She went on with a serious tone.

"And Atlas has managed to weaponized it, correct?" Silver asked, his mind racing with images of what a military like Atlas' could do with such technology.

"Cute and smart. I'm sure there are a few women you know that highly value that." Erika responded with a wink towards Ruby who blushed darkly.

"W-what about this weapon? What does it do?" Ruby stammered, embarrassed at Erika's hint.

"That's the thing. We don't fully know. We had a spy in the weapon's program but he went dark about a week ago. What we did find out was that this weapon will smash two of these crystals together at a high velocity. Depending on the speed and force of impact then we could be looking at one of the most powerful weapons ever created." She responded.

The four warriors sat in silence for several minutes as they reflected on the information that was shared between them. After some time, Silver stood and walked over to one of the railings and leaned against it, staring into the distance as he thought to himself. Meanwhile, Ruby sat next to Erika and cleared her throat before speaking.

"So you're a member of the same clan as Roland and Nina?" Ruby questioned her.

"Sure am." Erika responded with a proud smile before frowning sadly. "Or at least I was. I heard about what happened to them. I can't help but think that if I was there things may have been different." She continued.

"I don't mean to pry but why weren't you?" Ruby asked shyly.

Erika looked up at the moon before snapping her fingers, producing a green flame on her pointer finger's tip.

"This is why." She stated before glancing at Ruby. "In my clan this is considered a gift from The Hunt. Anyone who is able to manifest this flame is called a Void Dancer and so I was exiled at the age of twelve into the wild to find the other Void Dancers. I was surely doomed to die but luckily a team of Huntsmen from Atlas were on a mission in the area. They took me in and I joined the academy before being recruited into the CTC." She continued as she stared into the green flame.

"What's so bad about it? Isn't it just your semblance? Also, what's The Hunt?" Ruby asked curiously.

Erika chuckled at the genuine curiosity that Ruby was showing before shaking her head gently.

"No, I'm afraid not." Erika started with a smile. "You see, the clan Roland and I come from are Barrens. We have no true semblance of our own. However, we have found two different ways to fix this. There is the method that our warriors like Roland did which involves the tattooing of special runes on their bodies. And then there is the method of us Void Dancers. It's a special form of magic that allows us to manifest the very energy that Grimm are made of. This might help explain it." She continued before peeling off her poncho to reveal that she was wearing a tank top.

Erika's left arm was covered in a sleeve tattoo made up of beautiful images of different Grimm, runes, and what appeared to be shadowy figures engulfed in green fire. The tattoos appeared to also cover part of her chest and upper shoulder before drifting onto her back. Ruby gawked unashamedly at the work of art that covered Erika's arm. The tattoos were so well done that even Silver couldn't help but to look on in amazement. But at the same time it wasn't just her arm that caught his attention.

The woman that sat before Silver and Ruby was insanely fit. She had strong looking arms and shoulders while her curvy figure was standing out much more without her poncho. Everything about Erika's body seemed like she could easily wrestle an Ursa to the ground without breaking a sweat. Her form was a lot different than Ruby's who was much slenderer and seemed like she would be more comfortable running a marathon. And yet despite the clear difference in the types of training the two women prided themselves in, Ruby and Erika were both very beautiful in their own ways.

"Void Dancers undergo a ritual in which we enter into a trance like state to help fully awaken our senses to the magic of the forest around us. During this ritual we allow our spirits to tap into Remnant itself and bring forth the green flames. These tattoos are representations of Void Dancers and their commitment to using the energy in destroying the very essence of Grimm." Erika stated promptly.

"And The Hunt?" Replied Ruby.

"My clan had a main goddess that they worshiped called The Dust Mother. However, there is a group of lesser gods that is mainly worshiped by Void Dancers named The Hunt." The young woman answered.

"I thought Barrens didn't have Auras? How can you battle Grimm without them? Manmade semblances like the ones people like Roland did are one thing, but magic on that scale hasn't been used in probably thousands of years. Or at least it hasn't since everyone learned to tap into their Auras." Silver suddenly began to question Erika as well.

"Well it's true that magic isn't as important in this world anymore, but I guess not everyone got the memo to switch over to semblances and Aura. Besides, maybe we do have Auras and what not and just never figured out how to unlock them." Erika replied before giving Silver a glare.

"I believe that." Ruby chimed in. "My friend Jaune only tapped into his Aura once he got to Beacon. Not everyone knows how to do it. Maybe we can show you?" She asked with hope in her voice, to which Erika shook her head.

"No thank you, Ruby. I was found by Atlas before I could harness and train in using my gift with those of my own kind. I've spent my entire life learning how to master the art of being a Void Dancer and so I can't just give it up." She continued before glancing over Ruby's shoulder into the bridge of the boat where Robin was standing and pointing at his wrist. "Ah, if you wouldn't mind Ruby. Would you go into the bridge and help Robin send a message to his brother that we are almost in position?"

"Oh, okay. Yeah I can do that." Ruby replied with a smile before leaping up and speeding into the bridge, the door shutting behind her.

With Ruby gone, Erika and Silver sat in silence for a few moments. The silence between them was beginning to grow awkward before Erika cleared her throat and laughed under her breath gently.

"She's cute. Curious and hyper as hell, but cute." She stated, speaking of Ruby's never ending questions about Erika.

"Yeah, she can be a pain in the ass sometimes but she's got a good head on her shoulders." Silver replied with a confident smile at Erika who gave him a sly grin in response.

"So. Have you two done it yet?" She asked, the question being so abrupt that Silver almost fell over the railing in shock.

"What type of question is that?!" He responded, quickly glancing in the direction of the bridge in hopes that Ruby wasn't hearing their conversation.

"Just a simple one. I see the way you two look at each other and react when teased. I'm just saying, man. She's into you. And if you don't act on it then I might just have to steal her from you." Erika responded with a shrug of her shoulders before standing.

As she stood in place she placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the moon high above the pair. After what seemed like an eternity she turned and walked to the door of the bridge before stopping and spinning around to face Silver.

"You better keep her close, Silver. Because we are at war and I don't have to remind you that people will continue to die until this whole thing is said and done. My suggestion is that you two sit down and discuss your feelings before something happens and either one of you regrets never saying something. Just think about it. Worst case scenario is that you two have a one-night stand or end up in a fling and it doesn't work out. As hot as that sounds there is of course the other option. Best case is mushier than I'd like to get into, let alone think about, so I'll leave that to your own imagination." She stated before turning back to the door and entering it, leaving Silver alone on the deck of the boat.


	12. Chapter 11

**XI**

Yang expertly slid two beer mugs down her bar to Blake and Frost so that they could bring them to customers. Her bar was packed on this night and she was needing all the help should could get in order to keep the wild customers happy. She monitored Frost closely as the she weaved in and out of the crowd, dodging people as best as she could. However, Yang could tell that she needed a break and so scanned the crowd for someone to replace her with. Her gaze landed on Ember, who sat nearby with Gwyn and his team. Ember would do almost anything for Frost so it was always easy to get her to cover for her friend. Yang let out a high pitched whistle to get her attention before waving her over.

"I'm giving Frost a break, wanna stretch those legs and help Blake get these drinks to where they need to be?" Yang asked with a big smile, offering her two drinks to carry as Frost walked up to the bar.

"Uh, sure. I'll cover for Frost for a little while." Ember said as she looked from Yang to Frost before picking up the drinks and disappearing into the crowd.

"Why do you do that? I can easily make it through this crowd." Frost asked Yang as she leaned up against the bar and watched her dear friend vanish from sight.

"Because, my foxy lady, it's best to have you mingle with the customers than just have you work yourself to death. Besides, after the day you've had I'd say you need a moment to yourself. Go take a breather and relax for a little. We got this." Yang replied with a wink and a smile before spinning around to make more drinks.

Frost sighed in frustration before turning from the bar and venturing out into the crowd to find a spot to sit. She usually could easily find an empty seat near one of the back walls but tonight's crowd was going to make it hard to even do that. After a short search she found an empty table in a corner and collapsed into it and gently laid her head in her hands, sighing deeply. Even though she tried to play tough, she actually was fairly tired and was building a headache.

"Rough night?" Came a male's voice she didn't recognize.

"Go away. There are plenty of women in here for you to hit on." Frost answered with a wave of her hand.

"I'll take that as a yes. Mind if I joined you?" The man replied patiently.

"Sorry bud, seat's taken and I'm not interested. I just want to enjoy my break alone." She replied, not looking up at the man.

"I'm not looking to get in your pants, actually. Nor am I looking to bug you. I'm a friend here strictly on business, Frost." The man said softly before placing two drinks on the table in front of Frost.

Frost looked up from her hands to see who this supposed friend was and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the man. He was a tall and skinny young man who appeared to be the same age as her. His hair was a deep black which was cut into a long braided undercut with the sides of his head cleanly shaven with red and black tattoos of runes on the right side of his head. The man also sported a neatly trimmed beard which covered three scars on the left side of his face that raised out of the beard towards his ear where the wound appeared to had taken the tip of his left ear. He had blood red eyes and a handsome smile that added a strong air of confidence to him.

"Mind if I joined you?" The man asked politely, gesturing to the seat across the table from Frost.

"Uh…sure. Why not." Frost replied nervously, more interested in how he knew her than any true conversation he could offer her.

The man sat down quickly and grabbed one of the beers, taking a few gulps of it before replacing it on the table. He looked at the crowded bar hesitantly before learning towards Frost as if to tell her a secret.

"A friend of Winter's sent me." He stated softly.

Frost's fox ears perked up at the statement and she grinned with excitement at meeting a fellow operative of Winter's. She leaned close to the man and was almost unable to keep her voice low enough for only him to hear her.

"Well why didn't you say so? It's not like her to send someone in person, let alone in such a place like this. It's dangerous for both of our covers, you know." She said before glancing at the room.

"Well that's because I'm not a spy like you." He answered her sarcastically. "I'm here on behalf of my father, actually. He's a…good friend of your boss. My name's Jay." He replied, extending a hand as he gave Frost another confident smile.

Frost took the man's hand and raised an eyebrow at him. If he wasn't a spy and Winter didn't send him, then what was he needing to speak to her about? She grew uneasy as she worried that she may have just walked into a trap.

"So…what is it you need to talk to me about, Jay?" She asked him as she let go of his hand and sipped at her beer.

"The VLA are playing a very dangerous game going against Atlas like this. And you're playing an even more dangerous one." He replied very matter of faculty. "Winter and my…friend have devised a plan to lure Ironwood to Vale in order to kill him. However, the faction I represent has other plans and we want you to be part of them." He continued.

"I wouldn't say I'm playing that dangerous of a game. Winter and Weiss have my back if anything happens. Besides, every war has its spies. However, I'm interested in hearing about this plan I wasn't informed of that involves my friends." Frost questioned the man, feeling a small bit of worry grow inside her due to his vagueness.

"Shouldn't you be worried about why Winter didn't contact you? And would you really call these people your friends, Frost?" Jay replied with a wave of his hand in the direction of the rest of the room.

Frost thought about what he had said before scanning the room for those she had grown to call her friends recently. Besides the war, she had nothing in common with them. And if it wasn't for Weiss and Winter both then she would be in a very dangerous position. Even with the Schnee sisters looking out for her who was she to say that the rest of the VLA, or even Atlas, would take the news of her involvement in the war so lightly? She was a traitor to Atlas, the very kingdom that rescued her and gave her life meaning after everything had fallen apart. But at the same time she was a traitor to Vale, the oppressed people who were simply fighting for their freedom against a tyrant.

"I can take care of myself. And I'm starting to think that letting you sit at my table was a mistake." Frost stated before finishing her drink and beginning to stand from her seat.

As she stood she noticed Weiss talking to Gwyn and the rest of his team before they all four stood and exited the bar quickly. Weiss then rolled herself into the back part of the bar that led downstairs. What was that all about? She asked herself before noticing that Jay was watching as well.

"What do you think would happen if she became a casualty in this war? Do you think that the VLA would be understanding without her voice of reason to protect you? Frost, you are welcome with my group. We can protect you and help bring justice to Vale at the same time. That's more than the Schnee's and the VLA can promise." Jay said before finishing his own beer and standing as well.

"That won't happen. I'd give up my own life before I allowed her to be harmed. I'd do anything for all of these people." Frost replied with a growl and twitch of one of her fox ears.

"If you say so. In that case, you should know that your four friends are about to walk into a trap." The young man replied, pointing at a pair across the room in another corner. "See those two? Notice how on edge the man is? He knows he is in the den of Beowolves. The woman, on the other hand, is calm. She's plotting and has noticed your friends leaving." He continued.

Frost looked carefully at the pair he was referring to. The woman had short black hair with bright amber colored eyes. While the man had long white hair and golden eyes with scars on his face. He was desperately trying to hide one of his arms under the table while he glanced around the room. The woman seemed to tell the young man something which he in response to nodded and stood from his seat before rushing out of the bar. After a few moments the woman also left.

"Who are they?" Frost demanded.

"The woman is Cinder Fall. She's one of Ironwood's best operatives. Very few people see her face and get to live, so feel honored that she isn't here to fight at this moment. Knowing her she's scouting this location for an assault." Jay responded with a wave of a hand. "The man however you may have heard of a few times from your friends in the VLA. That is the bringer of death, Roland Egle. The man who has caused more death and chaos than anyone else Atlas has in their services, so much so that it's earned him the call sign Nevermore." He continued.

Frost's heart nearly stopped at the mention of Roland's name. She had never seen the man but had heard nothing but horror stories about him. She quickly spun to approach Yang but Jay quickly grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"I have to warn Yang. I have to warn Weiss. If Roland is leaving here to follow Gwyn and the others, then I have to warn them." She replied, her voice shaking.

"Are you insane? You'll be giving up your cover for sure." Jay responded.

Frost looked at the man for a few moments before shaking his grip from her arm and glaring at him.

"Fine, if you're so set on warning them then at least know that if they don't take the news well then you are safe to come to where my people are. It's three miles south of here in an old warehouse. Tell them I sent you." Jay said with a shake of his head.

Frost hesitated for a moment and nodded reluctantly. She turned from him and approached the bar, slipping behind it and reached for the door to the basement. As she was about to open it, Yang's arm quickly filled her vision, blocking the frame of the door.

"Whoa now. Where do you think you're going, beautiful?" Yang asked with a chuckle.

Frost sighed softly, building up her courage to tell Yang the truth.

"I need to warn Weiss about something. Gwyn and his team are in danger." She replied.

"In danger? How?" Yang asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

"They just are, Yang. I need to go downstairs right now before it's too late. Now move your fucking arm!" Frost snarled, giving Yang her best glare.

Yang frowned and looked over her shoulder at Blake.

"Blake, watch the bar. Little miss hot stuff has suddenly put on her big girl pants. We'll be downstairs." She said as her eyes started to slowly change to red.

Moments later Yang was leading Frost down the stairs to the basement area, clenching her elbow. She forced Frost around a corner towards a large metal door. She unlocked the door and shoved Frost inside, knocking her into a desk at which Weiss sat behind. Weiss looked up from a series of documents in surprise at the sudden entrance.

"And what in the hell is the meaning of this? What are you two doing?" Weiss demanded as she looked back and forth between the pair.

"Frost here claims Gwyn's team is in danger and got mouthy when I told her she isn't allowed down here." Yang replied with a point of her thumb to Frost.

"Weiss, I can explain." Frost began desperately. "I was contacted by a man who claimed to have ties to Winter and he said that Team GRAY is walking into a trap. Where did you send them?" She continued, leaning against the desk.

Weiss sat in disbelief as she looked at her sister's agent. She slowly shook her head and rubbed her eyes with one hand.

"Winter? What in the hell is she up to sending someone here?" She asked gently, trying to control her frustration.

"He said that he was sent by a friend of Winter's. Not sure who but he said that he wasn't a spy." Frost answered.

"Spy?" Yang questioned, stepping forward. "I'm sorry, but did you too just forget I was in the room? What the hell is going on?"

Frost and Weiss actually had forgotten that Yang was in the room as they talked. In Frost's excitement she had completely forgotten about her cover and acted as though Weiss and her were alone. She felt a sudden tinge of fear build in her as she thought about what Jay had said to her. The fear quickly turned into anticipation as she tried thinking of ways she could escape the room if she needed.

"Yang, we will talk about this later. We need to recall GRAY from checking out that cache." Weiss said, ignoring Yang's questions.

"Like hell we will talk about this later. Just what is Frost's role in this? Why is she talking about your sister like she knows her? And what guy contacted you?" Yang shot out more questions, her eyes glowing red with anger.

"This is not the time nor the place to discuss Frost's job!" Weiss started to raise her voice at her friend.

"Bullshit!" Yang yelled back, pointing at Frost. "Frost's job is to be my help in the bar and the occasional guard. Since when did she have any role in our operations? Hell, by the sound of it she's always had role in our operations without me knowing about it!" She shot a glare at Frost before taking a step towards her.

"Yang I said no!" Weiss barked, slamming her fist on the desk.

Yang stood in silence just a foot from Frost. She was so angry that the air coming off of her was actually hot. Frost's own emotions started to get hard to control as she wanted to defend herself from Yang but at the same time wanted to appear scared of her. Ice started to crystalize on her skin as she fought to hold in any hint of aggression as the powerful young woman glared into her eyes. After a few moments more she noticed that there was actually a mist forming between herself and Yang from Yang's heat and her ice making herself cold. She opened her mouth to say something but was instantly cut off by another voice.

"Is this a bad time?" The silence in the room was suddenly broken by a young man.

The three women looked into the doorway to investigate who the voice belonged to. The young man was tall, had shaggy blonde hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a kind but awkward smile.

"Jaune, I didn't know you were coming tonight." Weiss said, her tone changing instantly as she wheeled herself out from behind the desk to greet the leader of the VLA.

"I was going to wait until tomorrow but Nora and I finished working on Yang's bike sooner than we thought we would. I came by the deliver the good news but it seems I may have picked a bad time to come down." Jaune replied with a small chuckle as he eyed Yang and Frost.

"Nonsense, nonsense. We were just simply having a lively, yet vocal, disagreement." Weiss replied, shooting a glare at both Yang and Frost.

Jaune nodded with respect as he fully entered the room, striding over to the large desk and pulling up a chair to it. He dropped into the chair and sighed to himself. He looked up at Yang and gave her a soft smile, his boyish yet awkward charm still ever present.

"How's Blake, Yang? I didn't get a chance to speak to her upstairs due to the crowd." He asked.

"She's…she's fine. Moody as ever, as expected of Blake, but she's doing fine." Yang replied, her voice showing confusion at the question. "W-what about Pyrrha? How is she?" She asked.

"Oh, she's doing a lot better. Rose has done wonders in her treatments to her hearing. And, this being Pyrrha we are talking about, she hasn't stopped trying her best to make light of her situation. She's even gotten to where she can use her semblance to listen to vibrations of metal around her. Of course this means Nora can't sneak up on her anymore, which has only just made her try harder." Jaune replied with a laugh before looking at Weiss. "And I understand that Rose's treatments on you have gotten better as well."

"Oh, yes." Weiss replied. "Although, she says that without highly skilled doctors I won't be able to walk still."

"I see. Well, I am sure everyone in this room understands the importance of Team GRAY to our operations. And if our mysterious friend here says they are in trouble, then I believe that we should take her word and jump to action." Jaune gestured to Frost, who had been silent since he had entered the room.

"I agree, I say we…" Weiss began, only to be cut off by Jaune as he held up his hand.

"Sorry, but I think we should listen to what Frost has to say before we make a move. Besides, Gwyn and his team have to pure travel halfway across the city to get to their objective. We have time." He stated with authority before gesturing again to Frost. "Frost?" He asked the young faunus.

"Y-yes, sir?" Frost stammered out as she tried to play up being scared, hoping it would keep her cover intact just a little longer.

"I think it's time you told us the truth. And I mean everything. It is clear that Weiss knows more than the rest of the people in this room. So please, fill us in on what has happened. But before that, I want to know exactly who you are." Jaune said before resting his chin on one of his hands.

Frost stood in silence as she tried thinking of a way out of her current situation. But after several awkward seconds she realized that she had backed herself in a corner and it was time to come clean. She sighed deeply before starting from the beginning.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone! Sorry about the long wait for a new chapter but work is keeping me busy a lot lately. Just a fair warning for this chapter, it is the first part in a series of flashback chapters I will be dubbing "Memories". This particular chapter is NOT for the faint of heart. This chapter contains graphic situations that might be a little too much for some but due to Frost's backstory being what it is, it has to be told this way.**

* * *

 **XII**

 **Memories: Frost I**

Frost tried her hardest to hold back her tears as she took in what she just witnessed. Her mother's naked body laid on the ground twitching from the blow to the head she had just received from one of the White Fang members. It had taken every ounce of energy in Frost for her to not cry out as she was forced to watch the five men take turns raping her mother before the largest one struck her in the back of her head with a broom handle from their kitchen. The four other White Fang members laughed loudly as Frost's mother forced herself to kneel and look at her.

"Fr-ost. Please don't c-cry. It'll be over soon." Her mother stammered, still stunned from the hit to her head.

Frost opened her mouth to speak to her mother but was cutoff as one of the other men punched her mother in the face, knocking her to the floor. The member of the group who had been given the task of keeping Frost silent threw her aside as he joined the other four thugs. To Frost's horror they took turns stomping and kicking her mother, her cries of pain quickly becoming soft whimpers. After what seemed like an eternity, Frost's mother fell silent and the only sound she could hear was the sound of the men's blows landing on her mother's still body. After several more kicks, the sound of her mother's skull crunching under one of the men's boots echoed out in the otherwise silent room.

"Oh, gross! Did you see her fucking eye?" One of the thugs yelled out in disgust.

"Shit, she's not moving anymore, think we hit her too hard?" Another one asked the leader of the group.

"Shit, looks like it. What now? You guys hogged her before I could enjoy my turn with her." One of the others replied before delivering one final kick to the woman's back.

The leader of the group fell silent as he glanced at Frost, who had begun to crawl into a corner. Frost felt like she was about to get sick as she slipped further into shock. Her shoulder was numb from the bullet wound after having each of the White Fang members gouge the wound to test Frost. One of the members had even lit a cigarette after his turn and put it out on her arm to see if any new sensations of pain could make Frost break. After several seconds of trying to keep herself from getting sick, Frost vomited onto the floor before sobbing deeply.

"There's always the daughter. She's in such a deep state of shock and has lost so much blood that she'll probably die anyways. Might as well see if she'll stay alive long enough for you to get your fill." The leader said to the still eager man who grinned evilly at the thought.

The still eager member of the group slowly approached Frost in her corner. Frost dry heaved as she blankly looked down at the pile of vomit below her. Every footstep the man took echoed in her ears as he grew closer. The man final stood over her and tapped his foot next to the pile of vomit.

"No…please. I was strong for my mother. I didn't make a sound. Don't touch me." Frost silently begged as she looked up at the man.

The thug quickly responded with a kick to Frost's arm, knocking it away just enough to throw her off balance. While Frost was still off balance he swiftly grabbed her by her hair and threw her face first into her pile of vomit. As Frost struggled to pull her face from her own sickness the man laughed uncontrollably before finally letting her head up. Frost gasped for air before getting sick again. She rocked back and forth as she sobbed with more tears flowing down her dirty face.

"I don't know, guys. I think this one won't be as fun. We might as well just put a bullet in her head. She's broken." The thug growled before spitting on Frost and turned to his comrades.

Frost tried blocking out everything that was going on around her. She was desperately trying to convince herself that this was all just a nightmare and that it would end any moment. Suddenly her body grew cold like she had been thrown into a freezer. Her breath started to cloud in front of her very eyes as if it was a brisk winter night. She felt a sudden urge to stand fill her body, despite knowing that she would surely be killed if she dared move or make a sound. However, her vision began to fade and after a few moments she quickly blacked out. The room fell silent as the four other thugs looked on in shock as Frost stood up behind their comrade, her eyes changing to pure white.

Frost punched the man in the jaw before kicking him hard in the stomach, knocking him back. She then shot two ice balls out at him which struck him in the face. His Aura cracked from the force of the ice hitting him, stunning him. Frost stomped her right foot which sent a patch of ice through the floor and under the man. Within a second the ice underneath him shot upwards in the form of spikes and impaled his legs, causing blood to spill onto the floor below him. As the man screamed out in pain she closed the gap between them and, while conjuring a thin spike of ice in her hand, stabbed him through the mouth and out of the back of his head. The man's comrades looked on in horror as Frost quickly dispatched him. Before any of them could react, Frost let go of her ice blade and slammed her fist into the floor. Within moments, the small house was filled with an icy mist that made it close to impossible to see.

The leader of the group shook in fear as he heard the rest of his comrades scream out in pain one by one, each scream quickly being silenced by the sound of their lives ending. He backed himself against a wall and held his gun at the ready, waiting for any signs of movement.

"Alright, you've had your fun kid. How about we call this a drawl? You let me go and I'll forget what happened here, okay?" The man yelled out in desperation as he slowly moved sideways towards where he thought the door was.

Suddenly, out of the mist came a series of blocks of ice. The ice slammed into his chest with so much force that his Aura shattered almost instantly. However, he was faster than his friends and let loose several shots of his own towards where the ice came from. After a few moments of silence, he began again to inch towards what he guessed was the exit. He felt out with his free hand and grasped a doorknob and, much to his excitement and relief, he quickly turned to fidget with the door. However, right as he opened the door he heard a chilling voice behind him.

"Hey, you." Frost whispered in the thug's ear.

The man quickly spun around to shoot Frost but she snatched his hand and raised it to point to the ceiling before blowing ice into his eyes from her free hand. The thug screamed out in pain as the ice cut into his eyes, blinding him. Frost didn't hesitate to increase the man's agony though as she stomped a foot into his left shin just below the knee, snapping it backwards. The man's screams grew louder from the intense and sudden pain. He dropped down to the flood and rolled around while clawing at his eyes. Meanwhile, Frost crotched above him and conjured another spike before steading him under her.

"You think your pain is over, but I promise you that it has just begun." She whispered, her body still acting on its own as she was still in a trance like state.

Frost then silently angled the spike above the man's crotch and quickly thrust it into his genitals.


	14. Chapter 13

**XIII**

 **Memories: Frost II**

 **Two Days Later**

Frost's house sat in silence with ice clinging to the walls and ceiling. The blood of the White Fang thugs she had murdered stood out amongst the rest of the ice that stuck to every surface. It was early morning and the sun was just beginning to enter the windows of the cold home. Inside, Frost sat beside her mother's corpse and gently squeezed her mother's hand. The house still had a cold mist in it which made it hard to see. Outside of the house there came a hum of a Bullshead VTOL's engine that grew louder as it approached from the distance. Frost raised her head slightly as the VTOL came to a hover above the clearing in which the house sat.

After a few moments, a pair of ropes descended from the aircraft and a squad of soldiers wearing Atlas uniforms slid down them. The squad set up a perimeter as one more figure joined them. A woman with pure white hair leapt from the aircraft and landed amongst the soldiers. The woman pointed towards the house and mouthed a series of orders. The soldiers ran to the house and positioned themselves around the door and windows. They waited silently with their weapons at the ready before the woman with white hair joined them at the house.

Inside, Frost quickly found a place to hide that would allow her to watch her soon to be intruders while forming a plan. Her hands shook at the thought of taking another life. The screams, the warmth of the blood, and the pained looks on the White Fang members' faces were still fresh in her mind. She couldn't figure out what had driven her to so brutally kill the men. But at the same time she was thankful that whatever had taken over after she had blacked out had allowed her to survive the quick battle.

As Frost was thinking to herself, the front door and the windows to the house exploded as the squad of soldiers breached the home. They quickly and fluently spread out throughout the front section of the home, sweeping for any signs of a would be threat. A brief couple of moments passed before the white haired woman stepped into the house. She looked around and sighed deeply before pointing in different directions. The squad went from room to room checking for either survivors or enemies.

"All clear here, ma'am. No signs of the girl." One soldier called out from the back part of the house.

"Noted. Keep looking, she has to be here. Her father asked us to care for her so if she is alive then we need to find her quickly." The woman said.

Frost's ears perked at the sentence. This woman knew her father. But yet she couldn't shake an unbearable feeling that these people were extremely dangerous. She creeped out of her hiding spot, careful to stay hidden by the thick mist. As she slowly moved throughout the room she found herself behind the woman. She immediately summoned a dagger made of ice before darting towards the woman.

Winter spun around as the sounds of Frost attacking her echoed in the otherwise quite house. She dodged Frost's first swipe before grabbing her wrist. As she did so, Frost summoned another dagger and held it to Winter's neck. The sound of the scuffle alerted the squad in the house. They quickly surrounded Frost and Winter, their guns trained on Frost.

"Ma'am, we have a shot. Give us the command." One of the men barked, to which Winter raised a calm hand.

"Easy, boys." She answered with a chillingly calm voice. "It seems that our target has decided to come out of hiding." She continued.

Frost gritted her teeth, ready to slit Winter's throat if she made any sudden moves.

"Not in the mood to talk? That's fine. We are here to help you." Winter slowly placed a hand on Frost's other hand.

In response, Frost growled and pushed the ice dagger harder against Winter's throat. The soldiers in the room did not take kindly to this as they each started barking orders at her to step away from their commander. To this Winter simply gave them a glare.

"I don't know what happened. Those men killed my parents and I blacked out. I just want to be left alone, okay?" Frost snapped at Winter, who in response just gave her a gentle smile.

"I do not blame you for killing those thugs. And I am not here to punish you…what was your name again?" The young woman looked deep into Frost's eyes as she talked.

Winter's gaze was so deep that Frost actually felt like she could trust her for a brief moment. However, with everything that had happened with the White Fang, she was still very uneasy. Especially with several guns pointed at her head.

"Frost. My name is Frost." She finally answered.

"Hello, Frost. My name is Winter Schnee and I am here on behalf of Atlas. I'm here to help you. Your father was an informant of mine who was supposed to make contact with me several days ago and so when he didn't make his appointment I grew worried that something may have happened to him." Winter explained herself briefly before glancing over to the cold lifeless body of Frost's father.

"Well there he is, Winter. I guess you're a few days late because the White Fang already found us first." Frost snarled again, rage filling her body as she tried to block out the pain of watching her parents die.

"I can see that." Winter responded coldly. "However, you are alive. And an agreement I had with your father was that as long as I looked after you if anything was to happen to him then he would help me take down the White Fang in Atlas. Now seeing that you obviously know how to handle yourself, I would like to formally extend a job opportunity to you." She continued, fishing for her scroll briefly before holding it up so Frost could see it.

On the scroll's screen was the symbol for Atlas with what appeared to be a document of some sort halfway filled out showing. Frost glanced over the document for a moment before noticing that it had her name on it.

"What is it?" She questioned Winter.

"This could be your identity, if you like. Come work with me in Atlas' military and you will never have to worry about the White Fang hurting anyone you love ever again. I will personally train you to use your powers correctly and in time you will be able to punish anyone who dares prey upon the weak again." Winter replied with a cocky grin.

After several moments of silence, Frost lowered her hand from Winter's throat and allowed the daggers to disappear from her hands. She nodded hesitantly before taking the scroll from the woman and took a moment to look over the document more closely.

"We can fill out the rest of that on the way back to Atlas. We have plenty of time to talk about your future during the flight." Winter said as she motioned Frost to the door. Outside the house the sound of the VTOL was still roaring as it awaited the squad to return to it. "However, I believe this is a good time for your first lesson." Winter continued, turning to face Frost.

"My first les…" Frost began to speak but before she could react Winter kneed her hard in the stomach, knocking the air from her lungs.

Frost fell to the ground and gasped for air as she clutched her stomach. The power from Winter's strike was unbearable and the pain almost made her vision blur for a moment. Winter stood above Frost and quickly grabbed a handful of her long hair before yanking her up onto her knees. She leaned in closely and growled in her ear.

"If you ever make an attempt on my life again, I will hurt you in more ways than you can imagine. I am a woman of my word so that is why I am here right now to help you. But don't you dare for a moment think that my kindness is to be taken for granted. Do you understand me?" Winter said coldly.

Frost clenched her teeth as the pain in her stomach started to subside. She slowly nodded and in response Winter let go of her hair before turning away from the girl.

"Good. There are medics on board the airship so we will have that shoulder of yours looked at before filling out those forms of yours. Come along." Winter motioned for Frost to follow her as she exited the house.


End file.
